Well, here goes!
Chapter 1
The townspeople of Sandgem didn’t dare enter the Rowan Research Laboratory. Most people agreed that its premises were haunted, as if the Dead were waiting for them inside the building. No one knew what happened five years ago. No one knew what happened to Professor Rowan, either. No one, except for doctor Roseanne Zimmer, Rowan’s research assistant.
But Doctor Zimmer had not spoken a word since the event, her neighbours deeming her mute. She spent her life inside her house, rarely ever going out. Children called her a witch, thinking that she boiled pokemon and ate their skeletons. I even thought that, at first, until one day in the middle of March.
A sort of impromptu blizzard had attacked the town, even if the meteorologists of Sinnoh had predicted sunshine, leaving us in a frozen state of tranquility. Not a single person left their house, the toasty warmth inside their homes much more inviting than the frosty bite of the wind. Unfortunately for me, I had lots of work to be done, and my patients wouldn’t accept a “little snow” to stop me from leaving my house. I stepped out into the bitter chill, my cotton jacket slightly weak for the weather, and let my Alakazam out of its pokeball.
“Good morning, Cronus.” I smiled feebly, as though I could make it forget the chill. It stared at me reproachfully. “We’re going to have to teleport, today.” It nodded reluctantly, and placed a shivering arm on my shoulder, closing its eyes and concentrating. Suddenly, the icy world disappeared in a flash, a whir of lights flickering before my eyes. My stomach flipped over, my eyes rolling into my sockets.
I appeared in my office, comforted by the heat traveling from the vents. My eyelids opened, a spacious room with modern furniture placed neatly and many photos framed on the wall. My son took up most of the pictures, his smile encouraging and friendly. I hadn’t seen him since his sixteenth birthday. . .
I surveyed my office, realizing my Alakazam was not present. My eyes widened with fear, my pulse quickening. Where is Cronus, I thought. I jumped frantically around my room, searching for any sign of it, but to no avail. It was probably lost in the Trans-Psycho Interface, stuck in a jumble of Zeros and Ones, a common occurrence in side-along teleportation.
I slumped into my chair, the soft leather welcoming to my shaking body. “Dammit!” I yelled, slamming my fists onto my table. This was the reason why I preferred not to teleport. It would cost a lot to get Cronus back-
“Doctor Rainier? You have a, um, visitor. She requested to see you personally-” my secretary chirped, her blonde hair bouncing up and down as she spoke. She had a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah, whatever, bring her in.” I replied, not really paying attention to my surroundings. She disappeared behind the door as a different woman replaced her. She had long, ebony hair, and her blue eyes looked glazed, as if she had not seen proper sunlight in a long time. Her skin was an ivory sort of colour, and she wore a red skirt and a white blouse, despite the apparent hypothermic temperatures outside. She looked vaguely familiar.
“You are doctor Rainier, yes?” she croaked. She glared at me with her misty eyes. She had a sinister aura around her, a little intimidating, even.
“. . . Yes, I am.” I eyed her carefully.
“Then you will help me, doctor. My name is Roseanne Zimmer, and I am here to tell you what happened five years ago at the Rowan Research Laboratory. Will you listen to me?” she had a ferocious mien, her eyes no longer glazed, but more bird-like.
“I, uh, I-” I had no response, giving her a questioning look, my mouth open.
“I have your Alakazam. He was the one who told me where you were. So if you don’t listen to my story, then I am afraid I will have to dispose of it.” She sounded serious, though I just continued to stare at her exasperatingly. She truly was crazy. But then again, no one knew the truth behind the incident, so it might be worth listening.
“How did you get my alakazam?” I asked, a little curious, “And why do you want to tell me?”
“Using one of Professor Rowan’s brilliant machines, I managed to tap into the Trans-Psycho Interface. Don’t ask how it works,” she said before I could question her again, “And I noticed you two traveling. I grabbed your alakazam before you reappeared. It told me everything I needed to know.”
“How-?”
“So will you listen to what I have to say, or do I have to resort to more extreme measures until you will comply?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly. My heart began to pound within my chest. Something about her demeanor showed she was prepared to anything. But why?
“V-very well. Yes, I will listen to you.” I replied, her expression loosening, a large grin appearing on her face. Her teeth looked perfect, perhaps even too good to be real. They were sharpened to points.
“I understand that you are a psychiatrist, so you won’t be telling this information to other people unless I tell you to, right?” I nodded. “Good. Is that your son?”
“Yes,” I replied, staring at the photos on the wall, “But he’s been on a pokemon journey for three years now. So,” I immediately changed the subject, “shall we begin?”
“Right, well, I suppose this all starts with the P.A.R., or, the Pokemon Alpha Receptor, a technology created by an organization in Johto. Team Rocket. While they used it for, um, nefarious purposes, we decided to use it for Rowan’s research.
“Team Rocket used it for enhancing the powers of pokemon, and even evolving, in a twenty kilometre radius. Using radio waves, they managed to ‘super-charge’ pokemon in the surrounding area. It was deemed inappropriate and was soon shut down. The pokemon were not ready to mature like that.
“However, we were given the permission to experiment with the device as long as the pokemon weren’t harmed. We changed it to only a twenty metre radius, only affecting the pokemon we were experimenting with. It was completely harmless, at first.”
“At first?” I asked, intrigued by her tale.
“Yes. At first. It started by only increasing the powers of pokemon very slightly, not too much. Rowan wanted to see how they evolved, but we didn’t want to push it. But soon, our efforts seemed wasted, for the P.A.R. was not performing as well as we hoped. So we stopped for a period of time. Until Gramps came in. . .”
“Gramps?”
“His name is actually Professor Samuel Oak, the leading authority on all things pokemon. Gramps is a nickname. Rowan thought that his expertise might increase our studies. He came in from Johto to help us, but . . .” Roseanne stopped, her hands shaking. The glazed look returned. I blinked, my head suddenly coming out of a trance.
“Roseanne?” I wondered where her mind was. Whatever happened must have been traumatic. She had stopped moving entirely. What was she really thinking of? Then I thought of something.
“. . . Cronus!” I whispered, my eyes closed tight. There was a loud snap, a flash seared across my retina. I opened my eyes, colours burned over my vision. To my left stood an Alakazam, smiling toothily.
Indeed, Roseanne was telling the truth. He was no longer stuck in psycho-space.
“Hey, Cronus. Listen, you know this lady?” I asked, pointing to Roseanne. Cronus nodded. “Good, I’ll be needing your help. I need to get into her mind, do you think you could do that?” I stared inquiringly at him, while he shot a look of accusation at me.
What I was planning to do was not exactly legal without consent, but she was in such a trance she would not notice. I raised my eyebrow, hoping he would comply.
“Zam, alakazam.” He finally answered, agreeing to perform the task of watching her mind. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and then on my own, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, everything changed. My spacious office disappeared and was replaced with a very neat and tidy research facility. I was observing Roseanne’s memories.
A few people were waiting anxiously in front of a steel door with the word “quarantine” fixated in the centre. Roseanne was amongst these people. Some were shaking, their whole bodies convulsing. Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets. Roseanne appeared to be hyperventilating. She looked much younger, her hair lighter, her skin smooth.
She stood up and started pacing, muttering something to herself. I moved closer to listen, but just as I did so, the steel door slammed open. Out came two Nurse Joys, their expressions worried. As they exited, they pulled two large stretchers.
One had an unconscious Buizel, blood spilling out of its nostrils. The other stretcher carried a man in a black straitjacket, his eyes as glazed as the Roseanne in my office. He was yelling random things, mostly gibberish, except for a few choice words.
“HE’S LYING!” he screamed shrilly. Then his eyes rolled back into his sockets, his body going limp. He was dead. They pulled him and the buizel into a separate room. Then two other men came out of the room. A wise looking man with an anxious look on his face, and another man with sly eyes.
“Professor Rowan, is everything-?” Roseanne asked, her voice shaky.
“No, Roseanne! Everyone go to the pokemon storage cell! NOW!” The wise man yelled with pure fury. The lab workers scurried out of the room, but Roseanne stayed.
“How long will this go on, professor?” she asked.
“For as long as it needs to, doctor Zimmer.” Replied the other man. He smiled at her. She took off, but not without giving the man a reproachful look. Professor Rowan turned to the other man.
“How long will this go on, indeed, Samuel?” He asked, his eyebrows raised.
“We’ll see.” And then he moved to face the door. But as he turned, I could have sworn he smiled at me, a slight twinkle in his eye. I ran out of the room, terrified. How did he know I was there?
But Doctor Zimmer had not spoken a word since the event, her neighbours deeming her mute. She spent her life inside her house, rarely ever going out. Children called her a witch, thinking that she boiled pokemon and ate their skeletons. I even thought that, at first, until one day in the middle of March.
A sort of impromptu blizzard had attacked the town, even if the meteorologists of Sinnoh had predicted sunshine, leaving us in a frozen state of tranquility. Not a single person left their house, the toasty warmth inside their homes much more inviting than the frosty bite of the wind. Unfortunately for me, I had lots of work to be done, and my patients wouldn’t accept a “little snow” to stop me from leaving my house. I stepped out into the bitter chill, my cotton jacket slightly weak for the weather, and let my Alakazam out of its pokeball.
“Good morning, Cronus.” I smiled feebly, as though I could make it forget the chill. It stared at me reproachfully. “We’re going to have to teleport, today.” It nodded reluctantly, and placed a shivering arm on my shoulder, closing its eyes and concentrating. Suddenly, the icy world disappeared in a flash, a whir of lights flickering before my eyes. My stomach flipped over, my eyes rolling into my sockets.
I appeared in my office, comforted by the heat traveling from the vents. My eyelids opened, a spacious room with modern furniture placed neatly and many photos framed on the wall. My son took up most of the pictures, his smile encouraging and friendly. I hadn’t seen him since his sixteenth birthday. . .
I surveyed my office, realizing my Alakazam was not present. My eyes widened with fear, my pulse quickening. Where is Cronus, I thought. I jumped frantically around my room, searching for any sign of it, but to no avail. It was probably lost in the Trans-Psycho Interface, stuck in a jumble of Zeros and Ones, a common occurrence in side-along teleportation.
I slumped into my chair, the soft leather welcoming to my shaking body. “Dammit!” I yelled, slamming my fists onto my table. This was the reason why I preferred not to teleport. It would cost a lot to get Cronus back-
“Doctor Rainier? You have a, um, visitor. She requested to see you personally-” my secretary chirped, her blonde hair bouncing up and down as she spoke. She had a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah, whatever, bring her in.” I replied, not really paying attention to my surroundings. She disappeared behind the door as a different woman replaced her. She had long, ebony hair, and her blue eyes looked glazed, as if she had not seen proper sunlight in a long time. Her skin was an ivory sort of colour, and she wore a red skirt and a white blouse, despite the apparent hypothermic temperatures outside. She looked vaguely familiar.
“You are doctor Rainier, yes?” she croaked. She glared at me with her misty eyes. She had a sinister aura around her, a little intimidating, even.
“. . . Yes, I am.” I eyed her carefully.
“Then you will help me, doctor. My name is Roseanne Zimmer, and I am here to tell you what happened five years ago at the Rowan Research Laboratory. Will you listen to me?” she had a ferocious mien, her eyes no longer glazed, but more bird-like.
“I, uh, I-” I had no response, giving her a questioning look, my mouth open.
“I have your Alakazam. He was the one who told me where you were. So if you don’t listen to my story, then I am afraid I will have to dispose of it.” She sounded serious, though I just continued to stare at her exasperatingly. She truly was crazy. But then again, no one knew the truth behind the incident, so it might be worth listening.
“How did you get my alakazam?” I asked, a little curious, “And why do you want to tell me?”
“Using one of Professor Rowan’s brilliant machines, I managed to tap into the Trans-Psycho Interface. Don’t ask how it works,” she said before I could question her again, “And I noticed you two traveling. I grabbed your alakazam before you reappeared. It told me everything I needed to know.”
“How-?”
“So will you listen to what I have to say, or do I have to resort to more extreme measures until you will comply?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly. My heart began to pound within my chest. Something about her demeanor showed she was prepared to anything. But why?
“V-very well. Yes, I will listen to you.” I replied, her expression loosening, a large grin appearing on her face. Her teeth looked perfect, perhaps even too good to be real. They were sharpened to points.
“I understand that you are a psychiatrist, so you won’t be telling this information to other people unless I tell you to, right?” I nodded. “Good. Is that your son?”
“Yes,” I replied, staring at the photos on the wall, “But he’s been on a pokemon journey for three years now. So,” I immediately changed the subject, “shall we begin?”
“Right, well, I suppose this all starts with the P.A.R., or, the Pokemon Alpha Receptor, a technology created by an organization in Johto. Team Rocket. While they used it for, um, nefarious purposes, we decided to use it for Rowan’s research.
“Team Rocket used it for enhancing the powers of pokemon, and even evolving, in a twenty kilometre radius. Using radio waves, they managed to ‘super-charge’ pokemon in the surrounding area. It was deemed inappropriate and was soon shut down. The pokemon were not ready to mature like that.
“However, we were given the permission to experiment with the device as long as the pokemon weren’t harmed. We changed it to only a twenty metre radius, only affecting the pokemon we were experimenting with. It was completely harmless, at first.”
“At first?” I asked, intrigued by her tale.
“Yes. At first. It started by only increasing the powers of pokemon very slightly, not too much. Rowan wanted to see how they evolved, but we didn’t want to push it. But soon, our efforts seemed wasted, for the P.A.R. was not performing as well as we hoped. So we stopped for a period of time. Until Gramps came in. . .”
“Gramps?”
“His name is actually Professor Samuel Oak, the leading authority on all things pokemon. Gramps is a nickname. Rowan thought that his expertise might increase our studies. He came in from Johto to help us, but . . .” Roseanne stopped, her hands shaking. The glazed look returned. I blinked, my head suddenly coming out of a trance.
“Roseanne?” I wondered where her mind was. Whatever happened must have been traumatic. She had stopped moving entirely. What was she really thinking of? Then I thought of something.
“. . . Cronus!” I whispered, my eyes closed tight. There was a loud snap, a flash seared across my retina. I opened my eyes, colours burned over my vision. To my left stood an Alakazam, smiling toothily.
Indeed, Roseanne was telling the truth. He was no longer stuck in psycho-space.
“Hey, Cronus. Listen, you know this lady?” I asked, pointing to Roseanne. Cronus nodded. “Good, I’ll be needing your help. I need to get into her mind, do you think you could do that?” I stared inquiringly at him, while he shot a look of accusation at me.
What I was planning to do was not exactly legal without consent, but she was in such a trance she would not notice. I raised my eyebrow, hoping he would comply.
“Zam, alakazam.” He finally answered, agreeing to perform the task of watching her mind. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and then on my own, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, everything changed. My spacious office disappeared and was replaced with a very neat and tidy research facility. I was observing Roseanne’s memories.
A few people were waiting anxiously in front of a steel door with the word “quarantine” fixated in the centre. Roseanne was amongst these people. Some were shaking, their whole bodies convulsing. Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets. Roseanne appeared to be hyperventilating. She looked much younger, her hair lighter, her skin smooth.
She stood up and started pacing, muttering something to herself. I moved closer to listen, but just as I did so, the steel door slammed open. Out came two Nurse Joys, their expressions worried. As they exited, they pulled two large stretchers.
One had an unconscious Buizel, blood spilling out of its nostrils. The other stretcher carried a man in a black straitjacket, his eyes as glazed as the Roseanne in my office. He was yelling random things, mostly gibberish, except for a few choice words.
“HE’S LYING!” he screamed shrilly. Then his eyes rolled back into his sockets, his body going limp. He was dead. They pulled him and the buizel into a separate room. Then two other men came out of the room. A wise looking man with an anxious look on his face, and another man with sly eyes.
“Professor Rowan, is everything-?” Roseanne asked, her voice shaky.
“No, Roseanne! Everyone go to the pokemon storage cell! NOW!” The wise man yelled with pure fury. The lab workers scurried out of the room, but Roseanne stayed.
“How long will this go on, professor?” she asked.
“For as long as it needs to, doctor Zimmer.” Replied the other man. He smiled at her. She took off, but not without giving the man a reproachful look. Professor Rowan turned to the other man.
“How long will this go on, indeed, Samuel?” He asked, his eyebrows raised.
“We’ll see.” And then he moved to face the door. But as he turned, I could have sworn he smiled at me, a slight twinkle in his eye. I ran out of the room, terrified. How did he know I was there?
Last edited:
