One: 4.0.0
A young man tossed and turned in a hospital bed. His name was Edgar, and he was near death. the pain of his wounds nearly too much for him to bear. The pain kept returning him to the event that had just unfolded. The young man knew that something was not right with him... He felt it in his blood, a chill that froze his very thoughts... A nightmare that would not dissipate.
The pills did nothing to ease his pain. His pokémon, standing just a few steps away from his bed, kept eying him and each other with worry and fear all over their faces. They could almost feel the agony their trainer and best friend was going through. The intense, raw, agony. They had no real idea if he was going to live or die... All they could really do was hope and pray that it did not occur. The worst part was that nobody seemed to be able to help him. The doctors hadn't the slightest idea what was wrong with him; they could do nothing more but pump him full of morphine and other drugs to hopefully kill some of his pain. But so far, the drugs had been doing a piss-poor job at it.
He still vividly recalled the event that had taken place only a few hours prior to his hospitalization, all vivid images in the back of his mind. He knew that he could not go on like this. He had to put an end to the pain by any means necessary.
The young man turned around to see his Banette, Rasputin, eyeing him worriedly. he looked to it's side and saw a Gardevoir, Olivia, worry and fear etched into her delicate, humanoid face. Her cheeks still damp with tears, red from crying non-stop. To her side was the Sceptile, Ragde. He had look of utter anxiety, as if he was the one in the bed, and not his trainer. Edgar thought about it for a moment; Ragde's sharp leafs would do the job nicely.
He had no choice... Edgar knew it would shatter his pokémon's hearts, but he just had to do it... No amount of medicine could cure him now.
"Ragde...!" snapped the young man with great difficulty. His voice was rasp and weak. His Sceptile looked at him with surprise on his face. "Ragde... listen to me carefully... I need... you... to... slit... my... throat!" Ragde was simply stunned; he took a step further away from the bed. Beginning to sweat, he slowly shook his head. Edgar frowned. "If you really care about me... you... will... kill... me..." Ragde once again shook his head; this time, tears began to mix in with his sweat. Edgar hated himself for putting so much pressure on his Sceptile and other pokémon, but the pain was too much; it had to stop.
"Ragde!" Edgar snapped as best he could. "...If you... won't... do...it...then..." Edgar looked at his Banette directly in the eyes; Rasputin knew what was coming, he too shook his head. "Dammit Rasputin! I know you can kill me! I... order you... to use Shadow Ball on my head!" Edgar wheezed "And. Make it a... good one!" Rasputin closed his eyes in remorse. He stretched his hands forwards and charged them with shadow energies. Olivia looked as though she was ready to jump in front of the attack itself, and she probably would do so, but Rasputin stopped charging his attack midway. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Edgar was now beginning to get annoyed. "So much... for obedience..." he hissed weakly under his breath.
The only pokémon left that could help him in the room was his Gardevoir, Olivia, but Edgar knew she would rather kill herself first before she'd even consider killing him. If only Gengar was here, he would carry out the order. He was the most loyal pokémon of the bunch. Edgar snapped out loud as best as his lungs could manage. "Damn you all!" he shouted weakly. "You guys... are nothing... but a bunch... of... pus-" His sentence stopped short, as another sharp pain had erupted from his arms, and abdomen. The pain was too much for him to bear this time... It felt as though his wish for death would be granted soon after all.
Seeing Edgar twist and squirm in pain was too much for Olivia. She rushed to his side, and did the only thing she could manage. She stared deep into Edgar's eyes and used Hypnosis on him, putting the young man to sleep on the spot. She gave a small sigh of relief; knowing well that he would be out for quite some time. As soon as everyone was sure Edgar's lights were out, they began to speak among each other, their tones worried and weak as could be.
"Can you believe it Ragde?!" Rasputin called out, his voice thick with shock and remorse. "I... I almost did what he wanted me to do... What the hell was I thinking?!" Ragde sighted and patted the Banette on the shoulder. "I was almost to the point myself. " He let out another deep sigh, beads of sweat still on his forehead "I... I just can't bear to see him in such pain." Both Rasputin and Ragde sighed this time.
Olivia lifted her head and looked at them both; a look of understanding filled her teary gaze. "Please... we can't kill him! We just can't!" Ragde looked at her, his eyes also full of tears. "There is nothing else we can do... His pain is too much. You, of all beings, should know that." Olivia could not argue with that. She could feel Edgar's pain as vividly as he himself could; she feared that he would die in such misery.
She fell on her knees and began to sob. "I can't do it! We all have been through so much together... we can't just kill him!" she raised her gaze towards the roof , "I CAN'T DO IT!!" Pressing her hands against her face, she sank to her knees and broke into full-fledged requiem.
Rasputin looked her in the eyes, tear beginning to form in his eyes as well, "If we don't ease his pain... he will die in it... and he will die hating us for it." Rasputin closed his eyes, and turned away from them. He quietly began to sob, as if trying to hide that fact.
Olivia was simply dumbstruck at the situation all of them were in. She had heard the doctors taking among themselves. They had given Edgar till morning. He was going to die anyway. But even with that horrid truth lingering in her mind, she could not bring herself to kill harm Edgar... the pain would be just too much to bear! Her heart would shatter into a million pieces on the spot.
Unknown to them all, Edgar was still wide-awake. Too weak to talk or move, he only listened to the strange cries of his closest friends and only family. Even though he understood very little of what they were actually saying, he managed to get the main idea out of it: His pokémon would not bring themselves to harm him at all. He was doomed to die in pain and misery.
Just as Edgar began to swig down his own hope, something unexpected began to occur to him, something that filled him with even more dread than death itself... He began to understand what his friends were saying. Every word, every sentence, EVERYTHING.
Edgar's only thought before he succumbed to darkness of slumber was a simple one, "Oh god... it's... it's starting..."
Edgar's mind quickly raced back to the events that had taken place but a few short hours ago, a period of time that already felt a thousand fold longer. As he did, the darkness of slumber swallowed him.
*****************************
Edgar walked through the park at night, like he had done almost every other night in the past. Every evening, he would head home to get some well-deserved rest after an often long day. Nothing out of the ordinary in that.
Earlier that very day, victory had been his. He had won ten battles in a row, a new personal record, specially considering the people he had fought were all high end trainers that had already won more than five badges each. He beamed with pride and joy at his triumph. He could tell his pokémon were also chock full of gratification as well, even if they were stuck inside their containers. Edgar really hated keeping them stuck inside, but it was the law...
Edgar thought back to the battles that he had won. Rasputin had been simply incredible, Winning five of the battles single-handedly. Olivia had won two in a row, Ragde one, and Gengar the last two. He tried to recall all of the exact details of every match for future reference, but strangely enough, he couldn't remember any specific details at all. It didn't matter anyway; he would gloat to each and every one of his friends about the excellent results of his battles the very next day at school.
Just like every other night, he would let his body enter autopilot. Every evening, he would get home without even realizing how much time he had walked. His mind always seemed to wonder into other things, happy things, and, some rather disturbing things. One such example of disturbing things was what he knew very well about the world. The recent influx of news he had gotten of the internet seemed to only worsen as time passed on. News of gruesome crimes, incredible odds, politics both from home and abroad, minor armed conflicts, terrorist, and of course, the usual story about human-pokémon relations. Lately though, the word 'relations' had taken on a whole new meaning.
Reports kept popping up of normal pokémon behaving very human like: sleeping like humans, eating like them, and even - and get this - speaking like a human. These pokémon were by no means 'Pk-noids' or 'Morphs'. That got lots of people a bit intrigued. Every other day, Edgar would also read about how some pokémon and human develop what can only be descried as 'love' and what they were actually willing to do to keep it alive, at least before their often gruesome deaths. He found it both sad and infuriating to read news on how trainer and pokémon became so close, only to have the authorities step in guns blazing, willing to kill the 'atrocities of nature' or so they were called by the government. Worst of all was the fact that the 'purification of the world' was actually supported by politicians, church, and just about any old grumpy, grey haired man that hasn't been laid in over twenty years. It made Edgar sick to know that his very home region, Sinnoh, had a strict 'NO interspecies relationship' policy. Anyone suspected of it was not even given a fair trial. The judges were usually:
A) A 12-gauge buckshot to the head for both you and your so-called 'lover',
B) A 45. Cal. bullet to the head,
C) A 12 CE gauss bullet to the heart, which was a very messy end, or...
D) The infamous 'Ripper' (Lets just say that the rust in the metallic walls of jailhouses is not actually rust.)
Edgar wanted more than anything to move away. Move to the U.R.N. The nation was a cesspool of corruption, organized crime, and government fed propaganda, but at least you were free to choose whom you ended up with (to a certain degree). In the U.R.N, interspecies relationships where accepted due to the fact that 'Morphs' and 'Pk-noids' or so most people called them, made their home there.
Now, no one knew for sure where morphs had come from, Edgar put his money on some kind of genetic experiment that had actually worked. Others suggested a much more direct result (you can figure out what that means).
The point was; Morphs were not human, but they were not pokémon either. These beings had genetic traces from both creatures mixed in, but one quality stood out among all the others on them, giving them their distinct appearance: A humanoid body structure, and pokémon features, all well preserved and assimilated into the body shape. Calling a Morph 'Hybrid' was a very serious insult. Morphs appeared shortly after the end of WWII in 1946. They also appeared side to side with a strange group of new pokémon. They would come to be called 'Pk-noids' by society.
Pk-noids where strange creatures in all eyes. They suddenly appeared after the end of WWII, but their impact was not felt up until the beginning of the 60's. By then, racial tensions between the morphs and humans had gotten much worse than it had originally been. By this time, Pk-noids decided to come out of hiding, and try to do something productive with their lives. They also began their own movements to try and gain racial equality.
By all intended purposes, a Pk-noid looks EXACTLY like your regular off-the-mill pokémon, but several facts made them different from their kin:
The first fact was that all Pk-noids had very developed vocal cords; this allowed them a wide range of sounds, but the most complex was human speech, something very few pokémon had mastered. Pk-noids had the ability to mimic human verbal communication from birth, this gave them a clear advantage when it came to dealing with humans for the most part.
The second and most important fact about a Pk-noid was in their genetics. Pk-noids are compatible with both members of its own kin and humans. This is a type of genetic adaptation that would have occurred sometime in the far future. Actual estimates range from a few a thousand years, to hundred thousand years. Pk-noids could be considered the 'Homo-Superiors' of the pokémon kind. Their appearance marked the successful use of a genetic strand known as F.E.S. (F.E.S. stands for Forced Evolution Strand), but just who was responsible for releasing it, and when exactly it was released, is still widely debated by scientist all over the world, though many clues pointed out to a mysterious being only known as 'Silth'.
The one thing all scientists agreed on was the same though: Pk-noids and the F.E.S's flawless use proved that the strain is more than ready for human testing. But many still shun the use of such a form of genetic alteration. Specially those in the Vatican.
Pk-noids, as outlined by the U.R.N government constitution after 1969; became nothing more than 'Human being trapped in the body of a pokémon' and because of this, they all deserved the same amount of respect, dignity, and rights as a normal human citizen did. At first, not many people wanted to acknowledge this fact. Segregation and discrimination was quite common during that time, not to mention beatings and public humiliations.
But eventually, Humans, Morphs, and Pk-noids learned to get along. Many corners are still rough, but the path is at least clear.
Pk-noids and Morphs may have the same rights as a human being in the U.R.N. But elsewhere in the world, they are hated, shunned, and discriminated just by what they are. The areas that suffer the most are the Kanto region, the Johto region, Sinnoh region, the western half of Europe (save for Germany), north Korea, the middle east (save for Israel) and China. The rest of the world is either acceptant of them, or just ignores the fact they are part pokémon.
Edgar sighed heavily. Sinnoh was really going to hell in a hand basket. A pure love/friendship relationship with your pokémon was demonized; yet other evil acts where allowed to flourish.
Pokémon brothels, or 'hell houses' as they were often referred to by the pokémon and humans who worked there, were one good example. Morphs, Pk-noids, and humans who worked or lived on such places were not even looked as living beings, only as tools for other people's pleasure. Whatever that pleasure was. The scum of the earth went to have its fun on such places. The buildings were full of drugs, prostitution, weapons dealing, and general death overall.
The nights usually started with merciless illegal battles: underground fights that had no regulations, no judges, no mercy. The fights didn't end until blood had been spilled. Anyone was welcome to fight, but usually only pokémon where made to participate. From there, it would always lead to the kinky stuff: sex, rape, fetishes, satanic rituals, murder... The list went on.
It was no secret what kind of horrors took place in those buildings; the bodies that were found tossed in the rivers, waste grounds, parks, and even crammed into the very food supply showed proof of the depths of human and pokémon evil. Yet no one ever truly did anything about it. The police chief was bribed to keep things quiet at any cost. Police troopers were often involved in the acts themselves, giving protection for nasty favors. The higher powers choose to actually support the evil by 'donating' money, in order to keep things quiet, and get what they wanted. Because no one made any effort to shut down the hellholes, they sprung up like weeds all over the city and beyond...
Jubilife had once been an decent city to live in... Now it was worse than hell itself! A rotten corpse that only poisoned those near it... a disease that seemed to have no apparent cure...
Edgar wanted to desperately get out. But he couldn't. For his only friends, possessions, and entire life rested on Jubilife. The outside world was a dangerous place to be, even with pokémon.
Edgar hadn't even noticed, but he had wondered into the outskirts of the old abandoned Team Rocket hideout, located in the main park of Jubilife. The place was in total shambles. It brought nothing but bad memories to all the people in Jubilife. Horrid experiments on both humans and pokémon had taken place here; that had been no secret at all. The very existence of this installation was like an infected wound that refused to heal. The very place had the undeniable stench of death and suffering stuck to it. for some strange reason, Edgar felt an even stronger sense of hatred towards the place.
He considered turning around; going home was all he wanted at the moment. But suddenly, he remembered something. Not too long ago, his friend Jay had told him about some kind of underground Rocket lab, and what was possibly inside.
"What up Edgar? What are ya up to right now?"
"Nothing much, just going over my battle strategies, and maybe getting down to writing something down. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing really, except I know the most badass rumor imaginable! Want to hear about it?"
"Sure, I got some spare time. But it better not be another one of them 'urban legends' you always spew out."
"Oh, don't worry about that! this one is 95% true!"
"Sure... well, let it rip I guess."
"Do you remember the old Rockets who used to have a lab here about five years ago?"
"You mean those bastards that experimented on people?"
"yeah, them."
"yeah, I remember them. What for though?"
"well, I heard from a good source that the Rockets had been developing something big, I don't mean big as in big, I mean BIG as in COLOSALLY BIG"
"keep going."
"these thing was HUGE! It was supposed to be able to do things that no one could possibly imagine. Rumor has it that the thing they were developing was a new type of master ball."
"Master ball huh? It sounds to small a project to have such a big installation for you know."
"Well, you know how these crime organizations are; the bigger the headquarters, the more respect they command"
"I still don't see the point. So what if they had a master ball, they probably ran away with it."
"they probably did, but this is where things get interesting"
"Before you go on, was your brother, Cyrus the one who told you all this?"
"um... yeah..."
"Ok then, keep going."
"well, the new version of the master ball was actually created using an already created model. According to Cyrus, That master ball should still be somewhere inside that lab. Our father had been the one who donated the thing."
"I guess your dad must have been quite enraged when he found out what the Rockets had been really up to, right?"
"He, he, he, he, you have no IDEA! He was mad for weeks! He was so mad in fact, that he actually convinced Cipher to hunt down and punish the Rockets for what they had done.
"Just what really happened inside the Rocket labs?"
"Dad does not talk much about it. He says that it's a sin better forgotten. What I do know for sure is that the Rockets had been working on some other type of genetic acceleration formula, kinda like the F.I.S."
"You mean F.E.S?"
"Yeah, that one. The point is, that all I know is that it backfired. And from there, you know what happened."
"Yeah... everyone knows."
"well, we've gotten of course!"
"No we haven't. There is a master ball inside the labs, and whoever gets it will have a lot of money on their hands, right?"
"Oh, it's not just money. Whoever possess the master ball can catch ANYTHING!" "Even humans?"
"Yes Edgar, even humans. No you IDIOT! I'm being serious now. Just imagine it, any pokemon you could get your hands on, even god-like pokémon like Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga could be in your hands!"
"That's how life long obsessions usually begin, you know."
"That's not the point! The point is that if someone got that master ball, all that power could be theirs!"
"Would you actually be willing to go down there and get it yourself Jay?"
"Well... um... no, I guess"
"Good. Then no one else would be stupid enough to actually go inside that place for that! so just give it up."
"Edgar, sometimes I wonder where your sense of adventure is."
"I like being alive. Thank you."
The young man stood there, pondering.
"No one else would be stupid enough to actually go inside that place." Edgar laughed, "I guess I'm stupid enough. Oh well, I'll never know for sure unless I try." Edgar set his mind to it. He would venture into the old ruins and find that ball. Whatever else he found on his way would fetch a high price on the online auction sites, especially EBay. No one said to not make money on the side.
So, without a second thought, the young man walked towards the main entrance of the old Team Rocket labs.
The First thing Edgar noticed about the place, was the sealed door. It had been shut closed long ago. The two gigantic steel plates that covered the main entrance would have prevented him from going in. they where big and strong enough to stop a rampaging Groudon in it's tracks, but that was no longer a problem. Right before his gaze stood one gigantic blast hole. Something had melted a gigantic rift in the steel plates. It was big enough for even an Onix to fit in nicely. He put his money on some kind of C4 explosive charge, or even a fire ability. But he did not question his luck; the way was clearly open now. So he went for it.
And so, deeper and deeper traveled the young man into the pitch darkness. His heart beating in a neat rhythm. His senses constantly nagging him, telling him something was horribly wrong. The many skeletons Edgar saw on the way only served as ghoulish reminders of the true ambitions people like Team Rocket where willing to strive for, even if it meant certain death. He had to at least give them credit for determination.
It wasn't too long before Edgar found the main labs. He couldn't have missed them; it was the only place in all the installation that still had back up power active. He was again met with a melted steel door. This one had been completely burned to its hinges. This only reassured Edgar's already screaming instincts.
As he walked into the neat white halls, the lights turned on automatically, revealing a much grander place than he could have predicted at first. There was a reception desk, still filled with papers, a working desktop computer still shined brightly, as if it was new. Several doors that lead to different areas of the lab greeted Edgar's gaze as well. He looked at the ceiling, right in front of the desk, and spotted a gigantic plasma television. It kept playing a very annoying Team Rocket intro movie. "Team Rocket!" said the announcer cheerfully. He sounded quite convincing about his happiness, but otherwise, the intelligent person could tell right away it was all a lie. "We pride ourselves in having the best and only true genetics department dedicated solely to pokémon research! Everything we do is to further the knowledge of these incredible beings. For many..." The movie kept on playing, but Edgar completely ignored the mindless jabbering. It was nothing more than fake propaganda to make the criminals look good.
Edgar continued his search for the master ball. There were too many doors to take, and he did not even have an idea where the thing was. Many doors had been locked tightly, making it literally impossible for him to get trough.
As he continued his wonderings, he noticed a door at the very end of the hall; it had a distinct yellow sign posted on it. 'Authorized personnel only' Edgar walked up to the door and reached for the handle. Suddenly, a strange chill ran down his neck. He could feel as though somebody was watching him carefully, bidding it's time to swoop in and take his life. Edgar turned his head, trying to spot the one watching him. When he was sure no one was truly inspecting him, he slowly opened the door.
The door lead to what appeared to be a hatch of some kind. The small metal and glass room smelled of burnt rubber and cinder. All Edgar had to do was follow his nose to find where the smell originated; it was the console. The console was completely fried, and destroyed beyond repair. The burn marks were still fresh; Edgar could plainly feel the heat from it. Edgar knew then that someone had beaten him into the base, but his determination to find what he had come for did not dwindle at all. He stepped into the scanner, which was still active, and the hatch slowly slid open, revealing a maze-like hall. Edgar began to make his way through it.
Finally, after an hour of walking blindly, he got to the very end of the maze. And before his gaze, was the genetics wing of the lab. The place smelled of antiseptics, and stale air. Something about the place struck Edgar as very familiar... A feeling like he had been there already, but should not have returned at all. His instincts kicked in, they begged him to leave the place...
But his curiosity got the better of him. Edgar quickly moved in to see what was deeper inside the laboratory.
There was strange machinery everywhere he looked. Old, dusty broken computers, containers that held a yellowish liquid, medical beds stained with old blood, more and more skeletons on the floor, and countless other contraptions that were a complete mystery to him. One thing did managed to catch his eye though; it was a giant figure inside one of the many tanks.
It was humanoid in appearance, yet was as far from human as possible. The thing did not resemble a pokémon either, at least any he had ever seen in his life. Its skin was partially missing, revealing it's muscle structure and several bones. the gut was open, revealing it's innards to the world. It floated lifelessly in the tank. Several tubes sprang from its body, all of which were connected to the top of the container. Edgar wondered if the creature was still even alive, but once he though about it more deeply, he realized that the thing must have been long dead. It had been five years since anyone had stepped in this area. The creature must have probably died days after the labs were deserted. A shame really... Nobody deserved to die forgotten...
Edgar turned around, ready to leave the empty lab, and continue his search elsewhere, when suddenly; a small red book caught his attention. It lay idly open in an old decrepit desk.
The book was covered with dust, and was torn in certain places, but whoever had been writing this had managed to at least fill several pages with info. Edgar walked towards it, and decided to take a look. As he reached for it, a sense of wrong pounded against his head. He ignored it as best he could. The young man blew the dust away from the book's cover. It had only one set of numbers printed on it. '567400.' He carefully opened the book, and came across several intro pages. He read them, but found nothing really interesting about them. Just a bunch of nearly unrecognizable gibberish that held no real meaning to him. He took a longer look at yellowish pages and found something very interesting right around the end of the book; a diary from one of the scientists who used to work in the labs. The guy was probably one of the countless skeletons in the place. Edgar tried to decipher who this person really was, but what he had at first believed to be the scientist's name real name, had been crossed out. It had been replaced by a different set of word, written in brown messy letters:
"Apogee"
Was Apogee the scientist name? He had no real clue. But somehow... the name rang a bell.
The diary's first entry was set to October 6 2012, a couple of years prior. Edgar began to read.
October 6.
The experiment is going well. I think we have finally created something that we thought not possible; this could change the world for the better, or for the worse. I can only hope our employers use it for good.
October 10.
We finally got the opportunity test weather our creation can survive on the outside world... His life signs seem to be in optimum condition... This might be the breakthrough of the millennium!
Edgar looked at the book even closer; several pages had been completely torn out, leaving a mess of ripped pages on its wake. Edgar wondered what that really meant. He paused for a moment, pondering on it; then hopelessly sighed. He knew well it was pointless to think about it, and kept on reading.
October 25.
I fear that Team Rocket only commissioned us for their evil purposes. I believe though, that it's not too late to stop what has been unleashed into the world. This creature is half pokémon, half human. Not a morph, not a human, and not a Pk-noid; but a completely new kind of being (a hybrid of sorts).
We had been specifically told to create such a creature by Giovanni himself; he had been quite adamant that we succeed. He went on to say that maybe he would trade all of us for some guy named 'Silth' from Cipher, should we fail him. I, of course, would have been quite happy to get out of this god-forsaken place at that moment in time. The reason why Team Rocket had gotten so interested in the creation of such being had occurred after they had hacked into the Sinnoh government files. Team Rocket had been looking for some government project at first; they were quite determined to find it. Instead, they had run into several reports of hybrid offspring and their possible locations. One corresponded to a human and a Flygon. The files were labeled 'Terminated'. I knew well what that meant.
I and the rest of the scientist contemplated at such a mixture, deeming it impossible at first. But the spark of curiosity got the better of us all. After careful study of the genetic make-up of both creatures, and some small scale experiments. We found much to our surprise, such a mix would create not only a new type of being, but one superior to it's parents - hell, superior to anything living save for gods themselves! A hybrid that was stronger, faster, and much more intelligent that its parents could ever hope to be... If that was not something worth mentioning and researching, then I don't know what the hell is! We also discovered that the offspring always took after the mother, ALWAYS after the mother. If the offspring had been born from a human mother, then it looked like a human, save for a few physical characteristics, usually very minor; but if the mother was a pokémon, then the offspring would look pokémon in nature, but with some minor human characteristics as well. The implications of our discovery were BIG, Bigger than almost anything ever found on the field of genetics (save for the Morphs, Pk-noids, human PSI abilities, the fact that gods were only puffed up beings, etc.). Though the research is safe within the computer mainframe, I have taken the liberty of writing all the info down anyway. All the project data can be found in the intro on the first pages of this book. This is just in case the research is corrupted (which it probably will be anyway). Many of us could already tell what Team Rocket - more precisely, Giovanni - has in his evil mind. But I have hopes that maybe I can find a way out of this hellhole before anything goes wrong. For now, all I can really do is continue my work; I need the money either way. And to be honest... I kind of enjoy my scientific freedom here. After all, where else can you actually experiment on LIVE subjects? And in any case, my job is still incomplete. If the genetic reports are to be believed, what we have created here in the labs is nothing but an imperfect project.
Edgar smiled with some surprise. He found himself amazed at what he had just read. So the many rumors circling the net were actually true, and not just fabricated falsehoods? Was there more to humanity than met the eye? Somewhere in the world was the result of a human-pokémon relationship that had actually prospered. Was that even possible, let alone legal? The result: a superior being to its parents, maybe even superior to any of its old kin... It made Edgar wonder a bit, "is this really the next step in Human/pokémon evolution?" After a moment. he simply shook his head. It was too big a question for him to answer.
He then found himself frowning. He was disgusted by the scientist. How could anyone actually enjoy this kind of sick work? Cutting open living creatures, messing with their very genetics... How could he mess with the natural order of things, and still feel okay about it? The guy had gloated about his creation at first, and then he suddenly called it imperfect? Who the hell did he think he was, a god? Edgar shook his head once more, but this time with disgust. He looked at the first pages of the book with renewed interest. Now he knew what they really where. He scrolled through the pages, arcane symbols and massive words were all he saw.
"Well; it still look like gibberish to me," Edgar thought to himself as he continued to turn the pages. After only ten seconds, he gave up and returned to reading 'Apogee's' diary. The entries were getting longer and much more urgent.
October 27.
For all intends and purposes, we have confirmed the data found on the government files. There existed such a creature, but it's wasn't the only one... There are thousands! All of them are being carefully watched and monitored by Sinnoh's military. The one labeled 'Terminated' belonged to a trainer and his Flygon. The trainer was the father, and the Flygon was the mother. It had been born on the city of Eterna; the event had been quite well monitored. The records showed that the military had moved in days after the birth. The files where very detailed on what happened on February 2, 2008. Look them up, if you wish to have nightmares.
According to them, this had been the first REAL recorded case of a hybrid birth happening in the Sinnoh region (maybe there has been more of these elsewhere in the world?). But instead of receiving it with open arms, they had received it with a hailstorm of bullets. The government decided to dedicate an entire file (not to mention tax founding) to such a thing after that. The records were kept and funded for the finding, recording, and possible extermination of the hybrids, wherever they were found. At first, I was amazed. This was the infamous case that kick started the laws and regulations on the southern continents; precisely the reason why this area of the world is such a messed up place! But the sole fact that a human and pokémon had gotten so close was enough to surprise and shock us all. That had to be the last thing in all our minds!
...But yet...
...Well, no one will ever read this, and if they do, I will most likely be dead, so I see no harm in writing it down now. Personally, I could care less what species someone is; if you love someone for who he or she is, not what he or she is, then species shouldn't matter. And to tell you the truth, I have always found myself attracted to my best and only real friend. She and I have friends for the longest time. She has been there for me ever since I was a young lad, and both of us had many an adventure, our bond only growing stronger as time went on. Her name is Rain, and she is a Swampert. I know that right now, such a relationship would be looked at with disdain, disgust, even hatred... But maybe... just maybe... one day, the world will change. That is the only reason why I am actually doing all of this! Sure, the money is a good side effect, but what good is money if you lose all your dreams because of it? I guess the real reason why I work in genetics is because I know, as a scientist, that the world will not change on it's own... it always needs a little push in the right direction.
Edgar found himself slightly surprised, and slightly relieved. What he had just read was something quite private for sure, but nonetheless, he found himself agreeing with the guy, whoever he really was. After all... he did feel something more than just a little friendship between himself and Olivia.
This thought hit him like a hammer to the head though. He cared about Olivia, even to the point of dying for her. But...
what if... the feeling wasn't mutual? How would she take the fact that her trainer and best friend who wasn't even her own kind, had something more for her? But worse of all was the fact that just thinking about this could get him jailed... or worse. Edgar sighed disdainfully. Love and friendship had never been his real strong points. He decided that maybe he would keep it to himself... for now.
His mind was quickly taken off that subject as he read the next entries in the red book.
October 29.
Oh God! We were fools from the start! The thing that we- that I- created isn't a blessing, it's a curse!
Its rage and hatred for us is unparalleled! Just as I feared, the sole fact that he was manufactured has driven it insane. He's already killed several team Rocket scientist, many of which I knew far too well. Having to watch them get torn apart... I think it is too much for even me to fully digest. It's gotten so bad that Giovanni HIMSELF is coming over! This... this... THING is rampaging... We can't keep it under control by any means! It's killing at will, there's no stopping it! Curse our- MY- stupidity! We thought we- I- was a god! But in the end, I was nothing but a filthy human that had no idea what he messed with!
Now I fear that the world will get a taste of the horror I created... What in god's name have I done?!
October 31.
Almost everyone in the installations is dead. Rain and I are probably the only two remaining unscathed in this area. Those who were attacked began to change into... something else... This... this... monster... it's contagious! If you're hurt, then I fear that no one can help you anymore, except maybe with a bullet to the head. The transformation is complete within several days, and even if you're dead, it brings you back to life... This infection that I created was not supposed to happen! Team Rocket has all but escaped, and Giovanni never even came. I guess he recognized how dangerous the situation was, and being the coward he is, decided to not even risk it. The bastard instead took the easy way out; he sealed the labs off from the rest of the installations, leaving anyone inside for dead. I presume the rest of the base was evacuated, for all communications have completely ceased. If I live long enough, I swear that I will make sure this thing never gets out!
Edgar looked at the last pages; there were words on them all right, but so much blood had been splattered on it, that it was almost unreadable. The next pages where full of dried blood. But the very last one contained words. They were written with poor calligraphy, as if written in a hurry.
October
There was no date on the heading.
OH GOD!!!! SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S REALLY DEAD! THEY'VE KILLED RAIN!!! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO SHIELD ME?!?! WHY?!?!?!?!
To Edgar's surprise, he could hear the man's weeping clearly, as if he was standing right next to him; he could even smell the man's rancid breath. The young man looked all around him anxiously, but saw no one... He dreaded what he was about to read. But he could not stop himself from reading it now. It was almost as if an invisible hand had grabbed a hold of his head and pulled it towards the book, towards the unavoidable nightmare.
There is no denying it- I'm going to die here and now. This is my last entry... At least I will go out knowing that before Rain died, I let her know just how I felt about her. I will never forget her face... She gave me a weak smile before her life slipped away... She had not needed to speak... her eyes had told me everything. She had been waiting for that all these years... Why was I so afraid to let my feelings know? Why was I such a fool?!?! All this time... All... this... Time...!
His words stopped for a moment; then they resumed... These words were written in the same dried blood that covered the last pages.
I leave this warning to anyone foolish enough to enter this lab... LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!! DON'T GET ATTACKED!!! IF YOU DO... YOU WILL BECOME ONE OF US!!!!...
The young man gulped with some difficulty, his throat had gone dry as a desert.
A MONSTER...
The words began to slowly move.
A DEMON...
The book began to shake.
A BEAST!!!
Edgar could feel warm breathing on the back of his neck.
STOP READING AND RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edgar felt a motion behind him. The young man slowly turned around and found himself face to face with a huge lizard-like creature. It was a terrifying beast, monstrously huge and fearsome. Edgar's legs had gone completely numb, he could not do anything to defend himself. He was paralyzed with pure panic. The creature raised one of its claws; its face lit up as it expected the carnage to follow. Everything seemed to stop that very instant, the young man closed his eyes, knowing full well what was to come.
The claw pierced his chest, exiting neatly out his back; somehow the blow had managed to avoid hitting his spine. A hot searing pain extended from the impact all around his body. Edgar's every last nerve screamed in agony as he felt his blood slowly stain his clothes and skin. He gave a final scream of agony... as he slowly died on the spot.
***************************
The young man woke up with a massive start. He found himself in the same hospital bed. His wounds had healed up, but were still stinging as though they were fresh. He was drenched in so much sweat that you would have sworn he had been swimming in a pool prior to him waking up. He saw all of his companions sleeping. Olivia was on a chair, in a rather uncomfortable position. Ragde was pressed against the wall; his snoring was soft but evident. Rasputin was lying on the cold ground; his snoring was the loudest of all. Edgar looked at his hands; they were beginning to change texture to that of a hard exoskeleton... He feared the worst now. He knew with a heavy heart... He had to die before it was too late...
Before he became one of them.
By then, it would already be too late. Those he cared about would end up paying the ultimate price... just like the scientist he had read about. He was dead set on avoiding that, by any means necessary.
TO BE CONTINUED...Chapter End Notes:Feedback, Nuf' said
The pills did nothing to ease his pain. His pokémon, standing just a few steps away from his bed, kept eying him and each other with worry and fear all over their faces. They could almost feel the agony their trainer and best friend was going through. The intense, raw, agony. They had no real idea if he was going to live or die... All they could really do was hope and pray that it did not occur. The worst part was that nobody seemed to be able to help him. The doctors hadn't the slightest idea what was wrong with him; they could do nothing more but pump him full of morphine and other drugs to hopefully kill some of his pain. But so far, the drugs had been doing a piss-poor job at it.
He still vividly recalled the event that had taken place only a few hours prior to his hospitalization, all vivid images in the back of his mind. He knew that he could not go on like this. He had to put an end to the pain by any means necessary.
The young man turned around to see his Banette, Rasputin, eyeing him worriedly. he looked to it's side and saw a Gardevoir, Olivia, worry and fear etched into her delicate, humanoid face. Her cheeks still damp with tears, red from crying non-stop. To her side was the Sceptile, Ragde. He had look of utter anxiety, as if he was the one in the bed, and not his trainer. Edgar thought about it for a moment; Ragde's sharp leafs would do the job nicely.
He had no choice... Edgar knew it would shatter his pokémon's hearts, but he just had to do it... No amount of medicine could cure him now.
"Ragde...!" snapped the young man with great difficulty. His voice was rasp and weak. His Sceptile looked at him with surprise on his face. "Ragde... listen to me carefully... I need... you... to... slit... my... throat!" Ragde was simply stunned; he took a step further away from the bed. Beginning to sweat, he slowly shook his head. Edgar frowned. "If you really care about me... you... will... kill... me..." Ragde once again shook his head; this time, tears began to mix in with his sweat. Edgar hated himself for putting so much pressure on his Sceptile and other pokémon, but the pain was too much; it had to stop.
"Ragde!" Edgar snapped as best he could. "...If you... won't... do...it...then..." Edgar looked at his Banette directly in the eyes; Rasputin knew what was coming, he too shook his head. "Dammit Rasputin! I know you can kill me! I... order you... to use Shadow Ball on my head!" Edgar wheezed "And. Make it a... good one!" Rasputin closed his eyes in remorse. He stretched his hands forwards and charged them with shadow energies. Olivia looked as though she was ready to jump in front of the attack itself, and she probably would do so, but Rasputin stopped charging his attack midway. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Edgar was now beginning to get annoyed. "So much... for obedience..." he hissed weakly under his breath.
The only pokémon left that could help him in the room was his Gardevoir, Olivia, but Edgar knew she would rather kill herself first before she'd even consider killing him. If only Gengar was here, he would carry out the order. He was the most loyal pokémon of the bunch. Edgar snapped out loud as best as his lungs could manage. "Damn you all!" he shouted weakly. "You guys... are nothing... but a bunch... of... pus-" His sentence stopped short, as another sharp pain had erupted from his arms, and abdomen. The pain was too much for him to bear this time... It felt as though his wish for death would be granted soon after all.
Seeing Edgar twist and squirm in pain was too much for Olivia. She rushed to his side, and did the only thing she could manage. She stared deep into Edgar's eyes and used Hypnosis on him, putting the young man to sleep on the spot. She gave a small sigh of relief; knowing well that he would be out for quite some time. As soon as everyone was sure Edgar's lights were out, they began to speak among each other, their tones worried and weak as could be.
"Can you believe it Ragde?!" Rasputin called out, his voice thick with shock and remorse. "I... I almost did what he wanted me to do... What the hell was I thinking?!" Ragde sighted and patted the Banette on the shoulder. "I was almost to the point myself. " He let out another deep sigh, beads of sweat still on his forehead "I... I just can't bear to see him in such pain." Both Rasputin and Ragde sighed this time.
Olivia lifted her head and looked at them both; a look of understanding filled her teary gaze. "Please... we can't kill him! We just can't!" Ragde looked at her, his eyes also full of tears. "There is nothing else we can do... His pain is too much. You, of all beings, should know that." Olivia could not argue with that. She could feel Edgar's pain as vividly as he himself could; she feared that he would die in such misery.
She fell on her knees and began to sob. "I can't do it! We all have been through so much together... we can't just kill him!" she raised her gaze towards the roof , "I CAN'T DO IT!!" Pressing her hands against her face, she sank to her knees and broke into full-fledged requiem.
Rasputin looked her in the eyes, tear beginning to form in his eyes as well, "If we don't ease his pain... he will die in it... and he will die hating us for it." Rasputin closed his eyes, and turned away from them. He quietly began to sob, as if trying to hide that fact.
Olivia was simply dumbstruck at the situation all of them were in. She had heard the doctors taking among themselves. They had given Edgar till morning. He was going to die anyway. But even with that horrid truth lingering in her mind, she could not bring herself to kill harm Edgar... the pain would be just too much to bear! Her heart would shatter into a million pieces on the spot.
Unknown to them all, Edgar was still wide-awake. Too weak to talk or move, he only listened to the strange cries of his closest friends and only family. Even though he understood very little of what they were actually saying, he managed to get the main idea out of it: His pokémon would not bring themselves to harm him at all. He was doomed to die in pain and misery.
Just as Edgar began to swig down his own hope, something unexpected began to occur to him, something that filled him with even more dread than death itself... He began to understand what his friends were saying. Every word, every sentence, EVERYTHING.
Edgar's only thought before he succumbed to darkness of slumber was a simple one, "Oh god... it's... it's starting..."
Edgar's mind quickly raced back to the events that had taken place but a few short hours ago, a period of time that already felt a thousand fold longer. As he did, the darkness of slumber swallowed him.
*****************************
Edgar walked through the park at night, like he had done almost every other night in the past. Every evening, he would head home to get some well-deserved rest after an often long day. Nothing out of the ordinary in that.
Earlier that very day, victory had been his. He had won ten battles in a row, a new personal record, specially considering the people he had fought were all high end trainers that had already won more than five badges each. He beamed with pride and joy at his triumph. He could tell his pokémon were also chock full of gratification as well, even if they were stuck inside their containers. Edgar really hated keeping them stuck inside, but it was the law...
Edgar thought back to the battles that he had won. Rasputin had been simply incredible, Winning five of the battles single-handedly. Olivia had won two in a row, Ragde one, and Gengar the last two. He tried to recall all of the exact details of every match for future reference, but strangely enough, he couldn't remember any specific details at all. It didn't matter anyway; he would gloat to each and every one of his friends about the excellent results of his battles the very next day at school.
Just like every other night, he would let his body enter autopilot. Every evening, he would get home without even realizing how much time he had walked. His mind always seemed to wonder into other things, happy things, and, some rather disturbing things. One such example of disturbing things was what he knew very well about the world. The recent influx of news he had gotten of the internet seemed to only worsen as time passed on. News of gruesome crimes, incredible odds, politics both from home and abroad, minor armed conflicts, terrorist, and of course, the usual story about human-pokémon relations. Lately though, the word 'relations' had taken on a whole new meaning.
Reports kept popping up of normal pokémon behaving very human like: sleeping like humans, eating like them, and even - and get this - speaking like a human. These pokémon were by no means 'Pk-noids' or 'Morphs'. That got lots of people a bit intrigued. Every other day, Edgar would also read about how some pokémon and human develop what can only be descried as 'love' and what they were actually willing to do to keep it alive, at least before their often gruesome deaths. He found it both sad and infuriating to read news on how trainer and pokémon became so close, only to have the authorities step in guns blazing, willing to kill the 'atrocities of nature' or so they were called by the government. Worst of all was the fact that the 'purification of the world' was actually supported by politicians, church, and just about any old grumpy, grey haired man that hasn't been laid in over twenty years. It made Edgar sick to know that his very home region, Sinnoh, had a strict 'NO interspecies relationship' policy. Anyone suspected of it was not even given a fair trial. The judges were usually:
A) A 12-gauge buckshot to the head for both you and your so-called 'lover',
B) A 45. Cal. bullet to the head,
C) A 12 CE gauss bullet to the heart, which was a very messy end, or...
D) The infamous 'Ripper' (Lets just say that the rust in the metallic walls of jailhouses is not actually rust.)
Edgar wanted more than anything to move away. Move to the U.R.N. The nation was a cesspool of corruption, organized crime, and government fed propaganda, but at least you were free to choose whom you ended up with (to a certain degree). In the U.R.N, interspecies relationships where accepted due to the fact that 'Morphs' and 'Pk-noids' or so most people called them, made their home there.
Now, no one knew for sure where morphs had come from, Edgar put his money on some kind of genetic experiment that had actually worked. Others suggested a much more direct result (you can figure out what that means).
The point was; Morphs were not human, but they were not pokémon either. These beings had genetic traces from both creatures mixed in, but one quality stood out among all the others on them, giving them their distinct appearance: A humanoid body structure, and pokémon features, all well preserved and assimilated into the body shape. Calling a Morph 'Hybrid' was a very serious insult. Morphs appeared shortly after the end of WWII in 1946. They also appeared side to side with a strange group of new pokémon. They would come to be called 'Pk-noids' by society.
Pk-noids where strange creatures in all eyes. They suddenly appeared after the end of WWII, but their impact was not felt up until the beginning of the 60's. By then, racial tensions between the morphs and humans had gotten much worse than it had originally been. By this time, Pk-noids decided to come out of hiding, and try to do something productive with their lives. They also began their own movements to try and gain racial equality.
By all intended purposes, a Pk-noid looks EXACTLY like your regular off-the-mill pokémon, but several facts made them different from their kin:
The first fact was that all Pk-noids had very developed vocal cords; this allowed them a wide range of sounds, but the most complex was human speech, something very few pokémon had mastered. Pk-noids had the ability to mimic human verbal communication from birth, this gave them a clear advantage when it came to dealing with humans for the most part.
The second and most important fact about a Pk-noid was in their genetics. Pk-noids are compatible with both members of its own kin and humans. This is a type of genetic adaptation that would have occurred sometime in the far future. Actual estimates range from a few a thousand years, to hundred thousand years. Pk-noids could be considered the 'Homo-Superiors' of the pokémon kind. Their appearance marked the successful use of a genetic strand known as F.E.S. (F.E.S. stands for Forced Evolution Strand), but just who was responsible for releasing it, and when exactly it was released, is still widely debated by scientist all over the world, though many clues pointed out to a mysterious being only known as 'Silth'.
The one thing all scientists agreed on was the same though: Pk-noids and the F.E.S's flawless use proved that the strain is more than ready for human testing. But many still shun the use of such a form of genetic alteration. Specially those in the Vatican.
Pk-noids, as outlined by the U.R.N government constitution after 1969; became nothing more than 'Human being trapped in the body of a pokémon' and because of this, they all deserved the same amount of respect, dignity, and rights as a normal human citizen did. At first, not many people wanted to acknowledge this fact. Segregation and discrimination was quite common during that time, not to mention beatings and public humiliations.
But eventually, Humans, Morphs, and Pk-noids learned to get along. Many corners are still rough, but the path is at least clear.
Pk-noids and Morphs may have the same rights as a human being in the U.R.N. But elsewhere in the world, they are hated, shunned, and discriminated just by what they are. The areas that suffer the most are the Kanto region, the Johto region, Sinnoh region, the western half of Europe (save for Germany), north Korea, the middle east (save for Israel) and China. The rest of the world is either acceptant of them, or just ignores the fact they are part pokémon.
Edgar sighed heavily. Sinnoh was really going to hell in a hand basket. A pure love/friendship relationship with your pokémon was demonized; yet other evil acts where allowed to flourish.
Pokémon brothels, or 'hell houses' as they were often referred to by the pokémon and humans who worked there, were one good example. Morphs, Pk-noids, and humans who worked or lived on such places were not even looked as living beings, only as tools for other people's pleasure. Whatever that pleasure was. The scum of the earth went to have its fun on such places. The buildings were full of drugs, prostitution, weapons dealing, and general death overall.
The nights usually started with merciless illegal battles: underground fights that had no regulations, no judges, no mercy. The fights didn't end until blood had been spilled. Anyone was welcome to fight, but usually only pokémon where made to participate. From there, it would always lead to the kinky stuff: sex, rape, fetishes, satanic rituals, murder... The list went on.
It was no secret what kind of horrors took place in those buildings; the bodies that were found tossed in the rivers, waste grounds, parks, and even crammed into the very food supply showed proof of the depths of human and pokémon evil. Yet no one ever truly did anything about it. The police chief was bribed to keep things quiet at any cost. Police troopers were often involved in the acts themselves, giving protection for nasty favors. The higher powers choose to actually support the evil by 'donating' money, in order to keep things quiet, and get what they wanted. Because no one made any effort to shut down the hellholes, they sprung up like weeds all over the city and beyond...
Jubilife had once been an decent city to live in... Now it was worse than hell itself! A rotten corpse that only poisoned those near it... a disease that seemed to have no apparent cure...
Edgar wanted to desperately get out. But he couldn't. For his only friends, possessions, and entire life rested on Jubilife. The outside world was a dangerous place to be, even with pokémon.
Edgar hadn't even noticed, but he had wondered into the outskirts of the old abandoned Team Rocket hideout, located in the main park of Jubilife. The place was in total shambles. It brought nothing but bad memories to all the people in Jubilife. Horrid experiments on both humans and pokémon had taken place here; that had been no secret at all. The very existence of this installation was like an infected wound that refused to heal. The very place had the undeniable stench of death and suffering stuck to it. for some strange reason, Edgar felt an even stronger sense of hatred towards the place.
He considered turning around; going home was all he wanted at the moment. But suddenly, he remembered something. Not too long ago, his friend Jay had told him about some kind of underground Rocket lab, and what was possibly inside.
"What up Edgar? What are ya up to right now?"
"Nothing much, just going over my battle strategies, and maybe getting down to writing something down. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing really, except I know the most badass rumor imaginable! Want to hear about it?"
"Sure, I got some spare time. But it better not be another one of them 'urban legends' you always spew out."
"Oh, don't worry about that! this one is 95% true!"
"Sure... well, let it rip I guess."
"Do you remember the old Rockets who used to have a lab here about five years ago?"
"You mean those bastards that experimented on people?"
"yeah, them."
"yeah, I remember them. What for though?"
"well, I heard from a good source that the Rockets had been developing something big, I don't mean big as in big, I mean BIG as in COLOSALLY BIG"
"keep going."
"these thing was HUGE! It was supposed to be able to do things that no one could possibly imagine. Rumor has it that the thing they were developing was a new type of master ball."
"Master ball huh? It sounds to small a project to have such a big installation for you know."
"Well, you know how these crime organizations are; the bigger the headquarters, the more respect they command"
"I still don't see the point. So what if they had a master ball, they probably ran away with it."
"they probably did, but this is where things get interesting"
"Before you go on, was your brother, Cyrus the one who told you all this?"
"um... yeah..."
"Ok then, keep going."
"well, the new version of the master ball was actually created using an already created model. According to Cyrus, That master ball should still be somewhere inside that lab. Our father had been the one who donated the thing."
"I guess your dad must have been quite enraged when he found out what the Rockets had been really up to, right?"
"He, he, he, he, you have no IDEA! He was mad for weeks! He was so mad in fact, that he actually convinced Cipher to hunt down and punish the Rockets for what they had done.
"Just what really happened inside the Rocket labs?"
"Dad does not talk much about it. He says that it's a sin better forgotten. What I do know for sure is that the Rockets had been working on some other type of genetic acceleration formula, kinda like the F.I.S."
"You mean F.E.S?"
"Yeah, that one. The point is, that all I know is that it backfired. And from there, you know what happened."
"Yeah... everyone knows."
"well, we've gotten of course!"
"No we haven't. There is a master ball inside the labs, and whoever gets it will have a lot of money on their hands, right?"
"Oh, it's not just money. Whoever possess the master ball can catch ANYTHING!" "Even humans?"
"Yes Edgar, even humans. No you IDIOT! I'm being serious now. Just imagine it, any pokemon you could get your hands on, even god-like pokémon like Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga could be in your hands!"
"That's how life long obsessions usually begin, you know."
"That's not the point! The point is that if someone got that master ball, all that power could be theirs!"
"Would you actually be willing to go down there and get it yourself Jay?"
"Well... um... no, I guess"
"Good. Then no one else would be stupid enough to actually go inside that place for that! so just give it up."
"Edgar, sometimes I wonder where your sense of adventure is."
"I like being alive. Thank you."
The young man stood there, pondering.
"No one else would be stupid enough to actually go inside that place." Edgar laughed, "I guess I'm stupid enough. Oh well, I'll never know for sure unless I try." Edgar set his mind to it. He would venture into the old ruins and find that ball. Whatever else he found on his way would fetch a high price on the online auction sites, especially EBay. No one said to not make money on the side.
So, without a second thought, the young man walked towards the main entrance of the old Team Rocket labs.
The First thing Edgar noticed about the place, was the sealed door. It had been shut closed long ago. The two gigantic steel plates that covered the main entrance would have prevented him from going in. they where big and strong enough to stop a rampaging Groudon in it's tracks, but that was no longer a problem. Right before his gaze stood one gigantic blast hole. Something had melted a gigantic rift in the steel plates. It was big enough for even an Onix to fit in nicely. He put his money on some kind of C4 explosive charge, or even a fire ability. But he did not question his luck; the way was clearly open now. So he went for it.
And so, deeper and deeper traveled the young man into the pitch darkness. His heart beating in a neat rhythm. His senses constantly nagging him, telling him something was horribly wrong. The many skeletons Edgar saw on the way only served as ghoulish reminders of the true ambitions people like Team Rocket where willing to strive for, even if it meant certain death. He had to at least give them credit for determination.
It wasn't too long before Edgar found the main labs. He couldn't have missed them; it was the only place in all the installation that still had back up power active. He was again met with a melted steel door. This one had been completely burned to its hinges. This only reassured Edgar's already screaming instincts.
As he walked into the neat white halls, the lights turned on automatically, revealing a much grander place than he could have predicted at first. There was a reception desk, still filled with papers, a working desktop computer still shined brightly, as if it was new. Several doors that lead to different areas of the lab greeted Edgar's gaze as well. He looked at the ceiling, right in front of the desk, and spotted a gigantic plasma television. It kept playing a very annoying Team Rocket intro movie. "Team Rocket!" said the announcer cheerfully. He sounded quite convincing about his happiness, but otherwise, the intelligent person could tell right away it was all a lie. "We pride ourselves in having the best and only true genetics department dedicated solely to pokémon research! Everything we do is to further the knowledge of these incredible beings. For many..." The movie kept on playing, but Edgar completely ignored the mindless jabbering. It was nothing more than fake propaganda to make the criminals look good.
Edgar continued his search for the master ball. There were too many doors to take, and he did not even have an idea where the thing was. Many doors had been locked tightly, making it literally impossible for him to get trough.
As he continued his wonderings, he noticed a door at the very end of the hall; it had a distinct yellow sign posted on it. 'Authorized personnel only' Edgar walked up to the door and reached for the handle. Suddenly, a strange chill ran down his neck. He could feel as though somebody was watching him carefully, bidding it's time to swoop in and take his life. Edgar turned his head, trying to spot the one watching him. When he was sure no one was truly inspecting him, he slowly opened the door.
The door lead to what appeared to be a hatch of some kind. The small metal and glass room smelled of burnt rubber and cinder. All Edgar had to do was follow his nose to find where the smell originated; it was the console. The console was completely fried, and destroyed beyond repair. The burn marks were still fresh; Edgar could plainly feel the heat from it. Edgar knew then that someone had beaten him into the base, but his determination to find what he had come for did not dwindle at all. He stepped into the scanner, which was still active, and the hatch slowly slid open, revealing a maze-like hall. Edgar began to make his way through it.
Finally, after an hour of walking blindly, he got to the very end of the maze. And before his gaze, was the genetics wing of the lab. The place smelled of antiseptics, and stale air. Something about the place struck Edgar as very familiar... A feeling like he had been there already, but should not have returned at all. His instincts kicked in, they begged him to leave the place...
But his curiosity got the better of him. Edgar quickly moved in to see what was deeper inside the laboratory.
There was strange machinery everywhere he looked. Old, dusty broken computers, containers that held a yellowish liquid, medical beds stained with old blood, more and more skeletons on the floor, and countless other contraptions that were a complete mystery to him. One thing did managed to catch his eye though; it was a giant figure inside one of the many tanks.
It was humanoid in appearance, yet was as far from human as possible. The thing did not resemble a pokémon either, at least any he had ever seen in his life. Its skin was partially missing, revealing it's muscle structure and several bones. the gut was open, revealing it's innards to the world. It floated lifelessly in the tank. Several tubes sprang from its body, all of which were connected to the top of the container. Edgar wondered if the creature was still even alive, but once he though about it more deeply, he realized that the thing must have been long dead. It had been five years since anyone had stepped in this area. The creature must have probably died days after the labs were deserted. A shame really... Nobody deserved to die forgotten...
Edgar turned around, ready to leave the empty lab, and continue his search elsewhere, when suddenly; a small red book caught his attention. It lay idly open in an old decrepit desk.
The book was covered with dust, and was torn in certain places, but whoever had been writing this had managed to at least fill several pages with info. Edgar walked towards it, and decided to take a look. As he reached for it, a sense of wrong pounded against his head. He ignored it as best he could. The young man blew the dust away from the book's cover. It had only one set of numbers printed on it. '567400.' He carefully opened the book, and came across several intro pages. He read them, but found nothing really interesting about them. Just a bunch of nearly unrecognizable gibberish that held no real meaning to him. He took a longer look at yellowish pages and found something very interesting right around the end of the book; a diary from one of the scientists who used to work in the labs. The guy was probably one of the countless skeletons in the place. Edgar tried to decipher who this person really was, but what he had at first believed to be the scientist's name real name, had been crossed out. It had been replaced by a different set of word, written in brown messy letters:
"Apogee"
Was Apogee the scientist name? He had no real clue. But somehow... the name rang a bell.
The diary's first entry was set to October 6 2012, a couple of years prior. Edgar began to read.
October 6.
The experiment is going well. I think we have finally created something that we thought not possible; this could change the world for the better, or for the worse. I can only hope our employers use it for good.
October 10.
We finally got the opportunity test weather our creation can survive on the outside world... His life signs seem to be in optimum condition... This might be the breakthrough of the millennium!
Edgar looked at the book even closer; several pages had been completely torn out, leaving a mess of ripped pages on its wake. Edgar wondered what that really meant. He paused for a moment, pondering on it; then hopelessly sighed. He knew well it was pointless to think about it, and kept on reading.
October 25.
I fear that Team Rocket only commissioned us for their evil purposes. I believe though, that it's not too late to stop what has been unleashed into the world. This creature is half pokémon, half human. Not a morph, not a human, and not a Pk-noid; but a completely new kind of being (a hybrid of sorts).
We had been specifically told to create such a creature by Giovanni himself; he had been quite adamant that we succeed. He went on to say that maybe he would trade all of us for some guy named 'Silth' from Cipher, should we fail him. I, of course, would have been quite happy to get out of this god-forsaken place at that moment in time. The reason why Team Rocket had gotten so interested in the creation of such being had occurred after they had hacked into the Sinnoh government files. Team Rocket had been looking for some government project at first; they were quite determined to find it. Instead, they had run into several reports of hybrid offspring and their possible locations. One corresponded to a human and a Flygon. The files were labeled 'Terminated'. I knew well what that meant.
I and the rest of the scientist contemplated at such a mixture, deeming it impossible at first. But the spark of curiosity got the better of us all. After careful study of the genetic make-up of both creatures, and some small scale experiments. We found much to our surprise, such a mix would create not only a new type of being, but one superior to it's parents - hell, superior to anything living save for gods themselves! A hybrid that was stronger, faster, and much more intelligent that its parents could ever hope to be... If that was not something worth mentioning and researching, then I don't know what the hell is! We also discovered that the offspring always took after the mother, ALWAYS after the mother. If the offspring had been born from a human mother, then it looked like a human, save for a few physical characteristics, usually very minor; but if the mother was a pokémon, then the offspring would look pokémon in nature, but with some minor human characteristics as well. The implications of our discovery were BIG, Bigger than almost anything ever found on the field of genetics (save for the Morphs, Pk-noids, human PSI abilities, the fact that gods were only puffed up beings, etc.). Though the research is safe within the computer mainframe, I have taken the liberty of writing all the info down anyway. All the project data can be found in the intro on the first pages of this book. This is just in case the research is corrupted (which it probably will be anyway). Many of us could already tell what Team Rocket - more precisely, Giovanni - has in his evil mind. But I have hopes that maybe I can find a way out of this hellhole before anything goes wrong. For now, all I can really do is continue my work; I need the money either way. And to be honest... I kind of enjoy my scientific freedom here. After all, where else can you actually experiment on LIVE subjects? And in any case, my job is still incomplete. If the genetic reports are to be believed, what we have created here in the labs is nothing but an imperfect project.
Edgar smiled with some surprise. He found himself amazed at what he had just read. So the many rumors circling the net were actually true, and not just fabricated falsehoods? Was there more to humanity than met the eye? Somewhere in the world was the result of a human-pokémon relationship that had actually prospered. Was that even possible, let alone legal? The result: a superior being to its parents, maybe even superior to any of its old kin... It made Edgar wonder a bit, "is this really the next step in Human/pokémon evolution?" After a moment. he simply shook his head. It was too big a question for him to answer.
He then found himself frowning. He was disgusted by the scientist. How could anyone actually enjoy this kind of sick work? Cutting open living creatures, messing with their very genetics... How could he mess with the natural order of things, and still feel okay about it? The guy had gloated about his creation at first, and then he suddenly called it imperfect? Who the hell did he think he was, a god? Edgar shook his head once more, but this time with disgust. He looked at the first pages of the book with renewed interest. Now he knew what they really where. He scrolled through the pages, arcane symbols and massive words were all he saw.
"Well; it still look like gibberish to me," Edgar thought to himself as he continued to turn the pages. After only ten seconds, he gave up and returned to reading 'Apogee's' diary. The entries were getting longer and much more urgent.
October 27.
For all intends and purposes, we have confirmed the data found on the government files. There existed such a creature, but it's wasn't the only one... There are thousands! All of them are being carefully watched and monitored by Sinnoh's military. The one labeled 'Terminated' belonged to a trainer and his Flygon. The trainer was the father, and the Flygon was the mother. It had been born on the city of Eterna; the event had been quite well monitored. The records showed that the military had moved in days after the birth. The files where very detailed on what happened on February 2, 2008. Look them up, if you wish to have nightmares.
According to them, this had been the first REAL recorded case of a hybrid birth happening in the Sinnoh region (maybe there has been more of these elsewhere in the world?). But instead of receiving it with open arms, they had received it with a hailstorm of bullets. The government decided to dedicate an entire file (not to mention tax founding) to such a thing after that. The records were kept and funded for the finding, recording, and possible extermination of the hybrids, wherever they were found. At first, I was amazed. This was the infamous case that kick started the laws and regulations on the southern continents; precisely the reason why this area of the world is such a messed up place! But the sole fact that a human and pokémon had gotten so close was enough to surprise and shock us all. That had to be the last thing in all our minds!
...But yet...
...Well, no one will ever read this, and if they do, I will most likely be dead, so I see no harm in writing it down now. Personally, I could care less what species someone is; if you love someone for who he or she is, not what he or she is, then species shouldn't matter. And to tell you the truth, I have always found myself attracted to my best and only real friend. She and I have friends for the longest time. She has been there for me ever since I was a young lad, and both of us had many an adventure, our bond only growing stronger as time went on. Her name is Rain, and she is a Swampert. I know that right now, such a relationship would be looked at with disdain, disgust, even hatred... But maybe... just maybe... one day, the world will change. That is the only reason why I am actually doing all of this! Sure, the money is a good side effect, but what good is money if you lose all your dreams because of it? I guess the real reason why I work in genetics is because I know, as a scientist, that the world will not change on it's own... it always needs a little push in the right direction.
Edgar found himself slightly surprised, and slightly relieved. What he had just read was something quite private for sure, but nonetheless, he found himself agreeing with the guy, whoever he really was. After all... he did feel something more than just a little friendship between himself and Olivia.
This thought hit him like a hammer to the head though. He cared about Olivia, even to the point of dying for her. But...
what if... the feeling wasn't mutual? How would she take the fact that her trainer and best friend who wasn't even her own kind, had something more for her? But worse of all was the fact that just thinking about this could get him jailed... or worse. Edgar sighed disdainfully. Love and friendship had never been his real strong points. He decided that maybe he would keep it to himself... for now.
His mind was quickly taken off that subject as he read the next entries in the red book.
October 29.
Oh God! We were fools from the start! The thing that we- that I- created isn't a blessing, it's a curse!
Its rage and hatred for us is unparalleled! Just as I feared, the sole fact that he was manufactured has driven it insane. He's already killed several team Rocket scientist, many of which I knew far too well. Having to watch them get torn apart... I think it is too much for even me to fully digest. It's gotten so bad that Giovanni HIMSELF is coming over! This... this... THING is rampaging... We can't keep it under control by any means! It's killing at will, there's no stopping it! Curse our- MY- stupidity! We thought we- I- was a god! But in the end, I was nothing but a filthy human that had no idea what he messed with!
Now I fear that the world will get a taste of the horror I created... What in god's name have I done?!
October 31.
Almost everyone in the installations is dead. Rain and I are probably the only two remaining unscathed in this area. Those who were attacked began to change into... something else... This... this... monster... it's contagious! If you're hurt, then I fear that no one can help you anymore, except maybe with a bullet to the head. The transformation is complete within several days, and even if you're dead, it brings you back to life... This infection that I created was not supposed to happen! Team Rocket has all but escaped, and Giovanni never even came. I guess he recognized how dangerous the situation was, and being the coward he is, decided to not even risk it. The bastard instead took the easy way out; he sealed the labs off from the rest of the installations, leaving anyone inside for dead. I presume the rest of the base was evacuated, for all communications have completely ceased. If I live long enough, I swear that I will make sure this thing never gets out!
Edgar looked at the last pages; there were words on them all right, but so much blood had been splattered on it, that it was almost unreadable. The next pages where full of dried blood. But the very last one contained words. They were written with poor calligraphy, as if written in a hurry.
October
There was no date on the heading.
OH GOD!!!! SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S REALLY DEAD! THEY'VE KILLED RAIN!!! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO SHIELD ME?!?! WHY?!?!?!?!
To Edgar's surprise, he could hear the man's weeping clearly, as if he was standing right next to him; he could even smell the man's rancid breath. The young man looked all around him anxiously, but saw no one... He dreaded what he was about to read. But he could not stop himself from reading it now. It was almost as if an invisible hand had grabbed a hold of his head and pulled it towards the book, towards the unavoidable nightmare.
There is no denying it- I'm going to die here and now. This is my last entry... At least I will go out knowing that before Rain died, I let her know just how I felt about her. I will never forget her face... She gave me a weak smile before her life slipped away... She had not needed to speak... her eyes had told me everything. She had been waiting for that all these years... Why was I so afraid to let my feelings know? Why was I such a fool?!?! All this time... All... this... Time...!
His words stopped for a moment; then they resumed... These words were written in the same dried blood that covered the last pages.
I leave this warning to anyone foolish enough to enter this lab... LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!! DON'T GET ATTACKED!!! IF YOU DO... YOU WILL BECOME ONE OF US!!!!...
The young man gulped with some difficulty, his throat had gone dry as a desert.
A MONSTER...
The words began to slowly move.
A DEMON...
The book began to shake.
A BEAST!!!
Edgar could feel warm breathing on the back of his neck.
STOP READING AND RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edgar felt a motion behind him. The young man slowly turned around and found himself face to face with a huge lizard-like creature. It was a terrifying beast, monstrously huge and fearsome. Edgar's legs had gone completely numb, he could not do anything to defend himself. He was paralyzed with pure panic. The creature raised one of its claws; its face lit up as it expected the carnage to follow. Everything seemed to stop that very instant, the young man closed his eyes, knowing full well what was to come.
The claw pierced his chest, exiting neatly out his back; somehow the blow had managed to avoid hitting his spine. A hot searing pain extended from the impact all around his body. Edgar's every last nerve screamed in agony as he felt his blood slowly stain his clothes and skin. He gave a final scream of agony... as he slowly died on the spot.
***************************
The young man woke up with a massive start. He found himself in the same hospital bed. His wounds had healed up, but were still stinging as though they were fresh. He was drenched in so much sweat that you would have sworn he had been swimming in a pool prior to him waking up. He saw all of his companions sleeping. Olivia was on a chair, in a rather uncomfortable position. Ragde was pressed against the wall; his snoring was soft but evident. Rasputin was lying on the cold ground; his snoring was the loudest of all. Edgar looked at his hands; they were beginning to change texture to that of a hard exoskeleton... He feared the worst now. He knew with a heavy heart... He had to die before it was too late...
Before he became one of them.
By then, it would already be too late. Those he cared about would end up paying the ultimate price... just like the scientist he had read about. He was dead set on avoiding that, by any means necessary.
TO BE CONTINUED...Chapter End Notes:Feedback, Nuf' said