Chapter 3-The Mad Doctor
Chapter 3
I knew I had to be dreaming when I opened my eyes. I wasn't lying on the pavement in Lavender Town anymore, but back home in my mother's garden at Pewter City. At least it looked like home from the buildings, but the people were kind of different. Walking around with the people I knew were several humanoid-looking people like the Eevee-girl. They didn't look like Eevees like she did though, and were clothed as well. I saw someone that resembled a Raichu, another that looked like a Charmeleon, a Sandslash, and even a Dragonite. They were just wandering about like they had lived there their entire life. People were greeting them like they were good neighbors. Even though I was still getting used to the Eevee-girl's appearance, I wasn't really as shocked from theirs. That wasn't what bothered me though. I knew this was a dream, but it almost felt real-like this was how my life had always been and I knew who they were too.
As I looked about at the scenery, I heard a girl call my name. I turned around to look back into the garden and blinked in surprise when I saw the girl I found in the forest standing on the other side of our backyard fence. She was wearing clothes as well-a white tank top and blue skirt. Her tail was wagging happily from underneath the skirt as she waved and called me again.
I started heading towards her when I noticed that everything was suddenly getting darker as if the sky had just become overcast by clouds; the weird thing was that there wasn't a since one in the sky. Everybody continued to go about their merry way as if nothing was happening. The Eevee-girl was still standing by the fence and waiting for me with a bright smile on her face. I was startled by the change in scenery since I was starting to get used to this and almost thinking it was real. You know how dreams get like that sometimes, right? I looked around nervously when I heard a "Gengar!" echo through the area. Nobody else seemed to hear it, or see what I did when a Gengar appeared in the distance. I could make out an odd smirk on its face as it drifted closer, but after watching it carefully I realized it wasn't coming closer, but growing. The next thing I knew, it was towering so high that it blocked out the sky completely.
I turned my attention back to the people in the city, who still didn't look like they noticed a thing. They continued to chat and do as they pleased right up until the moment that they faded away, along with the buildings. I looked back to the Eevee-girl, eyes widening when I saw the same thing happening to her. That smile never left her face as she just blinked out of existence. The entire world I was in faded to nothing back darkness in a matter of seconds; and the only thing I could see was the Gengar's ghastly face staring at me. Suddenly, it came rushing right at me, mouth opened wide as it sucked me in.
I could hear a loud bone-crunching noise and a screeching cackle in the back of my mind before my eyes popped open when I awoke. It took me a moment to remember what had happened and when I looked around, I could see that the scenery was different from what I was expecting again. Now I found myself indoors, sitting in a chair in the center of a dimly lit room. The only light I could make out was from a few large computer screens off to my left. To my right, I saw the Gengar that had jumped out in front of me on the street, licking his lips and patting his bulging belly like he just ate a really big meal. It was then that I realized why one had appeared in my dream. I was just the victim of a dream eater attack.
"You punk!" I exclaimed as I started to get up. I was afraid of ghosts, but I wasn't just going to sit around and let this Gengar get away with messing with my head. I was going to teach him a lesson about invading people's minds. As I lunged for him, I found that once again I couldn't move a muscle. It wasn't the Gengar's fault this time though. When I looked down, I saw that I had been tied down to the chair. "What the...?"
The Gengar chuckled as he watched me. I couldn't reach since I couldn't get up so I tried kicking at it instead, causing it to burst out in laughter when I lost balance and fell onto my side, the chair coming down with me. I grumbled as I tried to inch across the floor, determined to hit this thing. My efforts stopped though when I heard loud sobbing nearby. I looked over to where it was coming from to see the Eevee-girl curled up and trembling violently, most likely waking up from a nightmare as well. I didn't see the shackles on her wrists anymore, but now she had new bindings that kept her to the wall-a collar and chain connected to the wall.
Rather than going after the Gengar, I tried inching towards her to see if she'd be okay; but then I stopped when I heard a door opening and shutting. The Gengar's laughing stopped as well. There was complete silence for a moment, and then I could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards us. The Eevee-girl whimpered and shrank back against the wall a little; but since I was on my side facing away from the door I couldn't see a thing. I started trying to roll with the chair so I could turn around, but before I could get anywhere, two massive hands grabbed hold of me and lifted me into the air. The next thing I knew, I was turned around and set back down in front of this bear of a man in a lab coat. He got down right in my face and screamed loudly when he got a good look at me, for what I had no idea; but whatever the reason, it panicked me to the point where I was screaming right back at him. The Eevee-girl's ears flattened against her head as she cringed from the noise, keeping close to the wall.
"It's you again!" the man exclaimed when he finally stopped. He looked like he was in his sixties or seventies and a giant. He looked more like a goblin though; and if I wasn't so scared out of my wits, I would have been laughing about how he looked. He had his hair spiked up, but it looked really weird because he was balding in some areas. His face was gnarled and wrinkled like a prune. I couldn't see his eyes because the light from the computer screens was reflecting off of the ridiculously huge eyeglasses he had on. For being so old, he was pretty strong and extremely hyperactive, which was obvious by how he was acting. But I had no idea who he was.
"Do I know you?" I cried out in response, still freaked by his sudden appearance.
The man looked blankly at me for a moment before shaking his head quickly and backing up a little. "No! No, you don't! Aheh..."
I was amazed by his size. When I thought about it, it reminded me of how tall the... "Hey, wait a second! You're that guy in the Gengar costume!"
He blinked and rubbed his neck, looking a bit nervous. "And what makes you say that?"
"Because you're still wearing half of the costume." I replied as I looked down towards his lower torso. Underneath the lab coat, from his waist down, was a really baggy lower half to his Gengar outfit, which was being held up by a suspenders. He was even wearing the little clawed feet rather than shoes.
He followed my gaze down and blushed a little. "Well, my research budget was getting a little low, so I had to sell a few things-like my normal work slacks and shoes. Not that they payed very well, mind you."
"So that's why you tried to steal my wallet! Kidnapping and theft! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you in to the police!"
"Well, because you're tied down to a chair in my secret basement laboratory and in no position to make threats."
...dang. That was a good reason.
"Anyway," he said as he fixed his eyeglasses. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."
"What...?"
The man cleared his throat, straightened out his collar, and then grabbed hold of me again. If the chair hadn't protected my back, I would have been crushed in his bearhug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed as he danced around the lab. "This is incredible! Amazing! The discovery of the century!"
"Hey! Let me go!" I cried out as he danced around the room with me in tow. Even though the chair was there, I could hear it cracking like it was about to break. That would've been a good idea if I had wanted to get loose; but then again, he'd probably squeeze me to death before I had a chance to move.
After hearing me, the man snapped out of it and set me back down, an excited grin on his face while he tried to contain his joy, squirming like an eel. What a weirdo! "I...I'm sorry. It's just that I've been wanting to see a real Pokemorph my entire life and this is just...FREAKIN' INCREDIBLE!"
I could tell he was starting to come at me again, so held up a foot to keep him at bay. It probably wouldn't have done much good, but he remembered to keep his distance at least. "What're the heck are you talking about? Who are you?"
"Oh yes, allow me to introduce myself." The man cleared his throat again and straightened out his lab coat so that he looked professional. The Gengar that was in the room stood next to him with a goofy grin, mimicking his every move. "I am Professor Elric Owens-the founder, head scientist, chief engineer, etc, etc. of this secret basement laboratory. And this is my assistant, Gengar. He is helping me with my research during my stay at the Pokemon Tower."
I'd never heard of him; and after this weird introduction, I never wanted to. He sounded like some crack-pot who had been out of the sun too long and I wasn't sticking around to be his next lab rat. "Yeah, okay. That's fascinating. Now would you let me up?"
"Oh, right. Gengar, if you don't mind..." The Gengar stopped its teasing just before the mad scientist turned to face him, then gave a small huff as he moved towards me. I felt a bit of the fear I had towards ghosts coming back to haunt me while he untied me from the chair. The moment I was loose, I immediately jumped up and moved away from him, watching both the ghost Pokemon and the professor. Owens let out a small chuckle as he watched my movements carefully. "My, my, my. I don't think our first impression was a good one."
"No kidding." I snapped. After calming down a little, I returned my attention to the Eevee-girl, who was still huddled close to the wall, but watching me at the same time. The man called her a Pokemorph. I'd only heard of such a thing in kiddie stories, but she was nothing like I'd pictured in my mind. I always thought of Pokemorphs as something like humans with Pokemon-shaped heads or something-like the paintings in those hyroglyphs they have in museums. You know, the ones that come from pyramids and stuff? But I guess this did kind of make more sense. I found the thought of somebody having a Slowpoke's head very disturbing. As much as I wanted to high-tail it out of the guy's bizarre lab, I was feeling curious as to what the girl was myself. But before I asked him anything, I wanted her loose too so we could both make a run for it if he tried hugging one of us again. I just rescued her from Team Rocket. There was no way I was going to leave her with this raving lunatic. "Her too." I said, pointing towards the girl. "She doesn't need to be chained up to the wall like that!"
"Oh, and how would you know?" Elric replied flatly. Still, he gestured for the Gengar to release her, never taking his eyes off me while the Pokemon obeyed. I noticed something different about him now. He didn't seem as hyperactive as before...more serious now. And that just made me all the more nervous. The moment the collar was taken from around the Eevee-girl's neck, she jumped up and hid behind me, much to my surprise as well as the professor's. "Hm. She seems rather attached to you, doesn't she?"
I shook the question off, trying to ignore the quiet whimpers behind me so I could keep my mind on the subject I wanted to talk about. I knew she was scared and wanted to get out of there, but this guy seemed to know something I didn't think I'd find out anywhere else. Normally I'm not that much into learning or studying, but considering how we were knocked out and dragged here, my interest was peaked. "Alright, what's going on? Why'd you bring us down here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to keep your two out of the open before the Rockets found you is all."
"Ah. Wait a second! How do you know they're looking for us?"
"Well, you do have a special experiment they were working on standing behind you." Elric nodded towards the Eevee-girl, who was still close behind me. "That would be a good enough reason to find you as soon as possible, wouldn't it?"
Seeing my puzzled expression, the professor smirked and shook his head. "Youth today...Gengar, bring me the tags, would you?"
The Gengar, who had been standing by the chain the girl was held to the wall with up until now, strolled over to a desk near the computer screens. He returned shortly, holding up the shackles I found the "Pokemorph" in as he stood next to Elric. The professor took one of them and held it up to the dim blue light so I could see the insignia on it. "You've been leading her around for how long and didn't notice these?"
Of course I noticed them. They were kind of hard to miss. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm relieved the police didn't see them. "I guess that would make sense..."
Elric straightened out his glasses and turned the shackle in his hand so he could look over it. "I never thought they'd actually manage to do this, but they've come quite a long way."
"What do you mean?"
"P.M. Sub #23'. Pokemorph, subject number twenty-three. She's part an experiment that's been underway for quite a while now-splicing human and Pokemon DNA to recreate a race that died out way before our time."
"Splicing? DNA?" I had no clue what he was talking about. They explained something on that subject in science class, but it was a very short subject since it was supposed to be illegal. I'm guessing toying around with something like that was the last thing the school boards wanted their students doing. Something else he said in that sentence caught my attention too. "So you're saying these things really did exist?"
"Yes, a long time ago. There's obvious proof out there too, although the history's been misinterpretted so you wouldn't understand it if you tried." Elric smirked and looked at me with that hyperactive, childish smile again. "But you don't want to be bored with a history lesson do you?"
"And yet you seem to know exactly what's going on." I snapped, ignoring his remark "How do you know so much about this experiment?"
"Simple. Because I used to be a scientist working on this project with Team Rocket."
"I knew there was something weird about you!" The Eevee-girl cringed at the sudden angry tone in my voice. I pointed an accusing finger at Elric, not noticing that the poor girl was whimpering in fright behind me. Whether she could understand what was being discussed or not, this whole ordeal probably had her scared out of her mind. "You're brought her here to take her back to them!"
The Gengar's image faded from view the moment I finished my accusation, only to pop back up to my left and give me a very hard smack over the side of the head. The Eevee-girl yelped and stumbled back a little when he reappeared, then ran to my right to keep away from him, but still keep close to me. Elric shook his head slightly and tapped his own forehead tauntingly. "You really need to use your head before you speak, kid. I said I used to work with Team Rocket."
I was a little busy rubbing the side of my head at the moment to respond right away. For a Pokemon that I didn't think could be physically touched, Gengar sure hit hard. "Then why did you quit? Didn't see eye to eye on something?"
"You could say that." Elric rubbed his neck and turned away to look up at his computer screens. "Anyway, I think I should get down the the main reason I brought you here. I need you to do me a favor, concerning the girl. I'm sure you'll agree to it."
I was about to just tell the guy, "I'm busy." and be done with this, but then I thought about the Eevee-girl clinging to my arm. Since Elric wasn't with Team Rocket, he must have had something in mind for her well being, right? That's what I was hoping. I couldn't understand what I was thinking at all. I'd only met her for a few hours and the whole experience still had me uneasy; and yet I still wanted to do what I could to help her out. "What kind of favor?" I asked.
"It's very simple actually. And it won't be out of the way of any badge collecting you want to do as a trainer either. All I want you to do is take her to Vermillion City for me."
"Wha...? That's it?" That didn't seem like a big deal at all. It was about a five day walk from here. Just one and a half if we somehow managed to get a ride. There had to be some sort of catch. This was way too simple. And what was so special about Vermillion City? "Why can't you just do that yourself? If you're so worried about her safety, why don't you make the trip with her?"
"For one, I still have work to do here." Elric replied, his back still turned. "And secondly, I think she'd be better off with you. You two seem to have hit it off already. I could maybe find somebody else to do it, but wouldn't you rather be the one keeping an eye on her?"
"I can't just take her to the..."
"To the what?" he questioned. "The police? The Pokemon Center? Why would you want to do that? Once they realize she's not in costume like in the last stunt you pulled, I guarantee you the first thought in their mind will revolve around finding out more about who or what she is. That would most likely mean having her put into another lab somewhere-probed and poked and prodded, more experiments-you don't really want that happening to her, do you?"
I didn't answer him. He did have a point and I had a feeling that would probably be the case before I even started my question. I looked over to the Eevee-girl and found her almost hypnotic green eyes staring back into mine. I turned away when I felt myself starting to get pulled into that strange trance again. Sooner or later, I did want to find out what that was among other things, and I wasn't going to learn much if she was gone. The professor was very right. I didn't know why, but I couldn't bring myself to just leave her behind now. It didn't feel like I'd been hypnotized into it, so that look she was giving me couldn't have been it. I guess I somehow made up my mind myself. "Does she have a name?" I finally asked.
"Excuse me?" Elric finally turned back around to look at us.
"I said, does she have a name? If I'm going to be travelling with her, I want to at least know that. And I don't think she can tell me herself. There wasn't a name on that tag that the Rockets gave her?"
The old professor shrugged lightly and looked back down at the shackle. "There wasn't. Maybe you should give her a name to go by. I'm not good at it myself."
"Hmm..." I looked at the girl thoughtfully for a moment. I wasn't too good with names either, so I decided to make a nickname from "Eevee", since that was...kind of what she was. After a few more seconds of thought, I came up with... "Eve. What about that?"
"Eve, huh?" Elric smirked lightly. "How ironic."
"Ironic? What's ironic about that?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud." Smiling goofily, he clapped and rubbed his hands together. Chuckling quietly, he turned away from us once more. "Anyway, I should let you get going now! However, there is one more thing I'd like to do first."
"Which is?" I watched as the Gengar faded away again, but I couldn't tell to where. The next thing I knew, me and Eve were caught in a brief, blinding flash. I turned my attention back towards Professor Elric when I heard an odd whirring sound. That crazy doctor had snapped a picture of us. I wouldn't have been as annoyed as I was feeling now if it hadn't caused Eve to start whimpering and shy away behind me again.
Elric simply held that childish grin he had on his face while he took the picture his camera spit out and hit it behind his back. "Ah heh. Excuse me. I just want it to remember this moment."
After an awkward silence, he quickly hurried us out of his lab, muttering things about we really needed to get moving as quickly as possible, he had work to do, and random other gibberish I couldn't understand. I didn't see the Gengar as we were ushered up to the main floor of the Pokemon Tower, nor did I care. After an experience like that, I really did want to get out of this town and never come back. A few things did cross my mind though as Eve and I left the tower. For one, I was wondering how the crackpot scientist managed to keep his lab a secret if there was a door leading to it in plain sight for everybody to see. Secondly, I was wondering just how far I was going to get with Eve looking the way she did. She was still wearing my V-neck and at the moment it wasn't concealing anything at all. "Before we go anywhere, we're going to need to find you some actual clothes." I told her.
Once again, I didn't know if she really heard me or not, but she did turn her head to look up at me while we walked through the now completely empty streets. I saw something from her that I didn't expect at all-a smile. A poorly-made attempt at one at least, but I had an idea of what she was trying to do when I felt her tail give a slight wag across the back of my legs. It made me smile some too. I had thought talking with her was impossible, but if she was able to give this kind of reaction, maybe communicating with her wouldn't be as much of a problem as I thought.
I knew I had to be dreaming when I opened my eyes. I wasn't lying on the pavement in Lavender Town anymore, but back home in my mother's garden at Pewter City. At least it looked like home from the buildings, but the people were kind of different. Walking around with the people I knew were several humanoid-looking people like the Eevee-girl. They didn't look like Eevees like she did though, and were clothed as well. I saw someone that resembled a Raichu, another that looked like a Charmeleon, a Sandslash, and even a Dragonite. They were just wandering about like they had lived there their entire life. People were greeting them like they were good neighbors. Even though I was still getting used to the Eevee-girl's appearance, I wasn't really as shocked from theirs. That wasn't what bothered me though. I knew this was a dream, but it almost felt real-like this was how my life had always been and I knew who they were too.
As I looked about at the scenery, I heard a girl call my name. I turned around to look back into the garden and blinked in surprise when I saw the girl I found in the forest standing on the other side of our backyard fence. She was wearing clothes as well-a white tank top and blue skirt. Her tail was wagging happily from underneath the skirt as she waved and called me again.
I started heading towards her when I noticed that everything was suddenly getting darker as if the sky had just become overcast by clouds; the weird thing was that there wasn't a since one in the sky. Everybody continued to go about their merry way as if nothing was happening. The Eevee-girl was still standing by the fence and waiting for me with a bright smile on her face. I was startled by the change in scenery since I was starting to get used to this and almost thinking it was real. You know how dreams get like that sometimes, right? I looked around nervously when I heard a "Gengar!" echo through the area. Nobody else seemed to hear it, or see what I did when a Gengar appeared in the distance. I could make out an odd smirk on its face as it drifted closer, but after watching it carefully I realized it wasn't coming closer, but growing. The next thing I knew, it was towering so high that it blocked out the sky completely.
I turned my attention back to the people in the city, who still didn't look like they noticed a thing. They continued to chat and do as they pleased right up until the moment that they faded away, along with the buildings. I looked back to the Eevee-girl, eyes widening when I saw the same thing happening to her. That smile never left her face as she just blinked out of existence. The entire world I was in faded to nothing back darkness in a matter of seconds; and the only thing I could see was the Gengar's ghastly face staring at me. Suddenly, it came rushing right at me, mouth opened wide as it sucked me in.
I could hear a loud bone-crunching noise and a screeching cackle in the back of my mind before my eyes popped open when I awoke. It took me a moment to remember what had happened and when I looked around, I could see that the scenery was different from what I was expecting again. Now I found myself indoors, sitting in a chair in the center of a dimly lit room. The only light I could make out was from a few large computer screens off to my left. To my right, I saw the Gengar that had jumped out in front of me on the street, licking his lips and patting his bulging belly like he just ate a really big meal. It was then that I realized why one had appeared in my dream. I was just the victim of a dream eater attack.
"You punk!" I exclaimed as I started to get up. I was afraid of ghosts, but I wasn't just going to sit around and let this Gengar get away with messing with my head. I was going to teach him a lesson about invading people's minds. As I lunged for him, I found that once again I couldn't move a muscle. It wasn't the Gengar's fault this time though. When I looked down, I saw that I had been tied down to the chair. "What the...?"
The Gengar chuckled as he watched me. I couldn't reach since I couldn't get up so I tried kicking at it instead, causing it to burst out in laughter when I lost balance and fell onto my side, the chair coming down with me. I grumbled as I tried to inch across the floor, determined to hit this thing. My efforts stopped though when I heard loud sobbing nearby. I looked over to where it was coming from to see the Eevee-girl curled up and trembling violently, most likely waking up from a nightmare as well. I didn't see the shackles on her wrists anymore, but now she had new bindings that kept her to the wall-a collar and chain connected to the wall.
Rather than going after the Gengar, I tried inching towards her to see if she'd be okay; but then I stopped when I heard a door opening and shutting. The Gengar's laughing stopped as well. There was complete silence for a moment, and then I could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards us. The Eevee-girl whimpered and shrank back against the wall a little; but since I was on my side facing away from the door I couldn't see a thing. I started trying to roll with the chair so I could turn around, but before I could get anywhere, two massive hands grabbed hold of me and lifted me into the air. The next thing I knew, I was turned around and set back down in front of this bear of a man in a lab coat. He got down right in my face and screamed loudly when he got a good look at me, for what I had no idea; but whatever the reason, it panicked me to the point where I was screaming right back at him. The Eevee-girl's ears flattened against her head as she cringed from the noise, keeping close to the wall.
"It's you again!" the man exclaimed when he finally stopped. He looked like he was in his sixties or seventies and a giant. He looked more like a goblin though; and if I wasn't so scared out of my wits, I would have been laughing about how he looked. He had his hair spiked up, but it looked really weird because he was balding in some areas. His face was gnarled and wrinkled like a prune. I couldn't see his eyes because the light from the computer screens was reflecting off of the ridiculously huge eyeglasses he had on. For being so old, he was pretty strong and extremely hyperactive, which was obvious by how he was acting. But I had no idea who he was.
"Do I know you?" I cried out in response, still freaked by his sudden appearance.
The man looked blankly at me for a moment before shaking his head quickly and backing up a little. "No! No, you don't! Aheh..."
I was amazed by his size. When I thought about it, it reminded me of how tall the... "Hey, wait a second! You're that guy in the Gengar costume!"
He blinked and rubbed his neck, looking a bit nervous. "And what makes you say that?"
"Because you're still wearing half of the costume." I replied as I looked down towards his lower torso. Underneath the lab coat, from his waist down, was a really baggy lower half to his Gengar outfit, which was being held up by a suspenders. He was even wearing the little clawed feet rather than shoes.
He followed my gaze down and blushed a little. "Well, my research budget was getting a little low, so I had to sell a few things-like my normal work slacks and shoes. Not that they payed very well, mind you."
"So that's why you tried to steal my wallet! Kidnapping and theft! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you in to the police!"
"Well, because you're tied down to a chair in my secret basement laboratory and in no position to make threats."
...dang. That was a good reason.
"Anyway," he said as he fixed his eyeglasses. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."
"What...?"
The man cleared his throat, straightened out his collar, and then grabbed hold of me again. If the chair hadn't protected my back, I would have been crushed in his bearhug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed as he danced around the lab. "This is incredible! Amazing! The discovery of the century!"
"Hey! Let me go!" I cried out as he danced around the room with me in tow. Even though the chair was there, I could hear it cracking like it was about to break. That would've been a good idea if I had wanted to get loose; but then again, he'd probably squeeze me to death before I had a chance to move.
After hearing me, the man snapped out of it and set me back down, an excited grin on his face while he tried to contain his joy, squirming like an eel. What a weirdo! "I...I'm sorry. It's just that I've been wanting to see a real Pokemorph my entire life and this is just...FREAKIN' INCREDIBLE!"
I could tell he was starting to come at me again, so held up a foot to keep him at bay. It probably wouldn't have done much good, but he remembered to keep his distance at least. "What're the heck are you talking about? Who are you?"
"Oh yes, allow me to introduce myself." The man cleared his throat again and straightened out his lab coat so that he looked professional. The Gengar that was in the room stood next to him with a goofy grin, mimicking his every move. "I am Professor Elric Owens-the founder, head scientist, chief engineer, etc, etc. of this secret basement laboratory. And this is my assistant, Gengar. He is helping me with my research during my stay at the Pokemon Tower."
I'd never heard of him; and after this weird introduction, I never wanted to. He sounded like some crack-pot who had been out of the sun too long and I wasn't sticking around to be his next lab rat. "Yeah, okay. That's fascinating. Now would you let me up?"
"Oh, right. Gengar, if you don't mind..." The Gengar stopped its teasing just before the mad scientist turned to face him, then gave a small huff as he moved towards me. I felt a bit of the fear I had towards ghosts coming back to haunt me while he untied me from the chair. The moment I was loose, I immediately jumped up and moved away from him, watching both the ghost Pokemon and the professor. Owens let out a small chuckle as he watched my movements carefully. "My, my, my. I don't think our first impression was a good one."
"No kidding." I snapped. After calming down a little, I returned my attention to the Eevee-girl, who was still huddled close to the wall, but watching me at the same time. The man called her a Pokemorph. I'd only heard of such a thing in kiddie stories, but she was nothing like I'd pictured in my mind. I always thought of Pokemorphs as something like humans with Pokemon-shaped heads or something-like the paintings in those hyroglyphs they have in museums. You know, the ones that come from pyramids and stuff? But I guess this did kind of make more sense. I found the thought of somebody having a Slowpoke's head very disturbing. As much as I wanted to high-tail it out of the guy's bizarre lab, I was feeling curious as to what the girl was myself. But before I asked him anything, I wanted her loose too so we could both make a run for it if he tried hugging one of us again. I just rescued her from Team Rocket. There was no way I was going to leave her with this raving lunatic. "Her too." I said, pointing towards the girl. "She doesn't need to be chained up to the wall like that!"
"Oh, and how would you know?" Elric replied flatly. Still, he gestured for the Gengar to release her, never taking his eyes off me while the Pokemon obeyed. I noticed something different about him now. He didn't seem as hyperactive as before...more serious now. And that just made me all the more nervous. The moment the collar was taken from around the Eevee-girl's neck, she jumped up and hid behind me, much to my surprise as well as the professor's. "Hm. She seems rather attached to you, doesn't she?"
I shook the question off, trying to ignore the quiet whimpers behind me so I could keep my mind on the subject I wanted to talk about. I knew she was scared and wanted to get out of there, but this guy seemed to know something I didn't think I'd find out anywhere else. Normally I'm not that much into learning or studying, but considering how we were knocked out and dragged here, my interest was peaked. "Alright, what's going on? Why'd you bring us down here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to keep your two out of the open before the Rockets found you is all."
"Ah. Wait a second! How do you know they're looking for us?"
"Well, you do have a special experiment they were working on standing behind you." Elric nodded towards the Eevee-girl, who was still close behind me. "That would be a good enough reason to find you as soon as possible, wouldn't it?"
Seeing my puzzled expression, the professor smirked and shook his head. "Youth today...Gengar, bring me the tags, would you?"
The Gengar, who had been standing by the chain the girl was held to the wall with up until now, strolled over to a desk near the computer screens. He returned shortly, holding up the shackles I found the "Pokemorph" in as he stood next to Elric. The professor took one of them and held it up to the dim blue light so I could see the insignia on it. "You've been leading her around for how long and didn't notice these?"
Of course I noticed them. They were kind of hard to miss. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm relieved the police didn't see them. "I guess that would make sense..."
Elric straightened out his glasses and turned the shackle in his hand so he could look over it. "I never thought they'd actually manage to do this, but they've come quite a long way."
"What do you mean?"
"P.M. Sub #23'. Pokemorph, subject number twenty-three. She's part an experiment that's been underway for quite a while now-splicing human and Pokemon DNA to recreate a race that died out way before our time."
"Splicing? DNA?" I had no clue what he was talking about. They explained something on that subject in science class, but it was a very short subject since it was supposed to be illegal. I'm guessing toying around with something like that was the last thing the school boards wanted their students doing. Something else he said in that sentence caught my attention too. "So you're saying these things really did exist?"
"Yes, a long time ago. There's obvious proof out there too, although the history's been misinterpretted so you wouldn't understand it if you tried." Elric smirked and looked at me with that hyperactive, childish smile again. "But you don't want to be bored with a history lesson do you?"
"And yet you seem to know exactly what's going on." I snapped, ignoring his remark "How do you know so much about this experiment?"
"Simple. Because I used to be a scientist working on this project with Team Rocket."
"I knew there was something weird about you!" The Eevee-girl cringed at the sudden angry tone in my voice. I pointed an accusing finger at Elric, not noticing that the poor girl was whimpering in fright behind me. Whether she could understand what was being discussed or not, this whole ordeal probably had her scared out of her mind. "You're brought her here to take her back to them!"
The Gengar's image faded from view the moment I finished my accusation, only to pop back up to my left and give me a very hard smack over the side of the head. The Eevee-girl yelped and stumbled back a little when he reappeared, then ran to my right to keep away from him, but still keep close to me. Elric shook his head slightly and tapped his own forehead tauntingly. "You really need to use your head before you speak, kid. I said I used to work with Team Rocket."
I was a little busy rubbing the side of my head at the moment to respond right away. For a Pokemon that I didn't think could be physically touched, Gengar sure hit hard. "Then why did you quit? Didn't see eye to eye on something?"
"You could say that." Elric rubbed his neck and turned away to look up at his computer screens. "Anyway, I think I should get down the the main reason I brought you here. I need you to do me a favor, concerning the girl. I'm sure you'll agree to it."
I was about to just tell the guy, "I'm busy." and be done with this, but then I thought about the Eevee-girl clinging to my arm. Since Elric wasn't with Team Rocket, he must have had something in mind for her well being, right? That's what I was hoping. I couldn't understand what I was thinking at all. I'd only met her for a few hours and the whole experience still had me uneasy; and yet I still wanted to do what I could to help her out. "What kind of favor?" I asked.
"It's very simple actually. And it won't be out of the way of any badge collecting you want to do as a trainer either. All I want you to do is take her to Vermillion City for me."
"Wha...? That's it?" That didn't seem like a big deal at all. It was about a five day walk from here. Just one and a half if we somehow managed to get a ride. There had to be some sort of catch. This was way too simple. And what was so special about Vermillion City? "Why can't you just do that yourself? If you're so worried about her safety, why don't you make the trip with her?"
"For one, I still have work to do here." Elric replied, his back still turned. "And secondly, I think she'd be better off with you. You two seem to have hit it off already. I could maybe find somebody else to do it, but wouldn't you rather be the one keeping an eye on her?"
"I can't just take her to the..."
"To the what?" he questioned. "The police? The Pokemon Center? Why would you want to do that? Once they realize she's not in costume like in the last stunt you pulled, I guarantee you the first thought in their mind will revolve around finding out more about who or what she is. That would most likely mean having her put into another lab somewhere-probed and poked and prodded, more experiments-you don't really want that happening to her, do you?"
I didn't answer him. He did have a point and I had a feeling that would probably be the case before I even started my question. I looked over to the Eevee-girl and found her almost hypnotic green eyes staring back into mine. I turned away when I felt myself starting to get pulled into that strange trance again. Sooner or later, I did want to find out what that was among other things, and I wasn't going to learn much if she was gone. The professor was very right. I didn't know why, but I couldn't bring myself to just leave her behind now. It didn't feel like I'd been hypnotized into it, so that look she was giving me couldn't have been it. I guess I somehow made up my mind myself. "Does she have a name?" I finally asked.
"Excuse me?" Elric finally turned back around to look at us.
"I said, does she have a name? If I'm going to be travelling with her, I want to at least know that. And I don't think she can tell me herself. There wasn't a name on that tag that the Rockets gave her?"
The old professor shrugged lightly and looked back down at the shackle. "There wasn't. Maybe you should give her a name to go by. I'm not good at it myself."
"Hmm..." I looked at the girl thoughtfully for a moment. I wasn't too good with names either, so I decided to make a nickname from "Eevee", since that was...kind of what she was. After a few more seconds of thought, I came up with... "Eve. What about that?"
"Eve, huh?" Elric smirked lightly. "How ironic."
"Ironic? What's ironic about that?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud." Smiling goofily, he clapped and rubbed his hands together. Chuckling quietly, he turned away from us once more. "Anyway, I should let you get going now! However, there is one more thing I'd like to do first."
"Which is?" I watched as the Gengar faded away again, but I couldn't tell to where. The next thing I knew, me and Eve were caught in a brief, blinding flash. I turned my attention back towards Professor Elric when I heard an odd whirring sound. That crazy doctor had snapped a picture of us. I wouldn't have been as annoyed as I was feeling now if it hadn't caused Eve to start whimpering and shy away behind me again.
Elric simply held that childish grin he had on his face while he took the picture his camera spit out and hit it behind his back. "Ah heh. Excuse me. I just want it to remember this moment."
After an awkward silence, he quickly hurried us out of his lab, muttering things about we really needed to get moving as quickly as possible, he had work to do, and random other gibberish I couldn't understand. I didn't see the Gengar as we were ushered up to the main floor of the Pokemon Tower, nor did I care. After an experience like that, I really did want to get out of this town and never come back. A few things did cross my mind though as Eve and I left the tower. For one, I was wondering how the crackpot scientist managed to keep his lab a secret if there was a door leading to it in plain sight for everybody to see. Secondly, I was wondering just how far I was going to get with Eve looking the way she did. She was still wearing my V-neck and at the moment it wasn't concealing anything at all. "Before we go anywhere, we're going to need to find you some actual clothes." I told her.
Once again, I didn't know if she really heard me or not, but she did turn her head to look up at me while we walked through the now completely empty streets. I saw something from her that I didn't expect at all-a smile. A poorly-made attempt at one at least, but I had an idea of what she was trying to do when I felt her tail give a slight wag across the back of my legs. It made me smile some too. I had thought talking with her was impossible, but if she was able to give this kind of reaction, maybe communicating with her wouldn't be as much of a problem as I thought.