Act 2: Interlude 4

To say that Steven Stone is having a protracted day could be a little bit of an understatement.

Firstly, his Aerodactyl did one thing to upset his mate, a stunning and equally fiery Charizard owned by Drake. Aerodactyl at all times makes it everybody’s drawback when he lands himself within the doghouse, and has been uncooperative all day.

Secondly, his makes an attempt to furret out extra data on the happenings round Ash Ketchum have hit brick wall after brick wall. Irrespective of how he tried, Kanto refused to half with any data concerning the younger coach past absolutely the fundamentals. Inside him burns equal components curiosity and a involved need to know what kind of potential hazard the younger, mysterious coach could be dragging alongside in his wake. With a lot else happening, Steven’s curiosity needs to be left on the again burner, one thing the champion loathes doing.

Thirdly

“returned in tough situation, however alive. I imagine that concludes my report, Champion Stone.”

Leaning again in his workplace chair, Steven sighs and appears on the ceiling, processing every part Lavaridge’s Chief Pokemon Ranger simply mentioned.

A conflict on Mount Chimney.

The involvement and close to demise of Lee Henson’s group.

The looks of Magma and their shadowy chief.

In a single fell swoop, all the data given to the Hoenn Champion by Lee Henson has roughly been validated, and plenty of lingering suspicions of the person’s motives have been put to relaxation. If all of the stories are correct, then Lee’s Ninetales was almost a fatality within the melee, so on the very least, the person is real in standing in opposition to the ecoterrorists.

A skeptical a part of him requested, Nicely, what if he let Ninetales get damage to throw off suspicion? What if he has one other motive?

For a second, Steven imagines Metagross in Ninetales’ place, and a part of his soul merely turns into a chilly void, one which gnaws at the remainder of his being with serrated fangs.

No. No man bonded so deeply to a pokemon would allow them to be harmed with such callous intentions. It is merely not potential.

Lee reportedly refused to supply reminiscences of the incident to a sanctioned Psychic-type belonging to the Lavaridge PD with out his Ninetales current, however Brendan Birch stepped up and volunteered, offering numerous valuable particulars in his account.

The boy gave them numbers, names, faces, power approximations, pokemon data, and verified the story shared between himself, Lee, and their Draconid pal, Zinnia. The plot to extract Fireplace sort vitality from the volcano for a purpose Brendan did not perceive It matches Lee’s abridged description of Magma’s plans to awaken Groudon to a disturbingly correct T.

Maybe the best factor the younger Birch supplied is an correct picture of Magma’s chief. A memory-assisted sketch of ‘Maxie’ matches one Maxwell Matsubusa.

Maxwell Matsubusa appears somewhat unremarkable on paper. Born into previous cash and journeying round Hoenn from the ages of 14 to twenty, he inexplicably and abruptly retired from the lifetime of a coach and have become an ecologist with a handful of printed articles as regards to nature conservation. Over the subsequent twenty years, he would go on to fund a handful of profitable startups and was a key investor within the Devon Company, serving to the Hoenn-based firm develop and rise to rival Kanto’s Silph Co. The good enterprise strikes would almost double the Matsubusa household’s already spectacular wealth.

Then Matsubusa started to tug again. He was by no means one for the general public eye, however he grew to become a recluse. Nobody really minded, as rich-types are typically unusual that approach, which is why nobody seen him quietly liquidating his belongings, or shifting his cash out of Hoenn’s Nationwide Financial institution. Ultimately, the Hoenn civil authorities started to search for him concerning unpaid taxes, and that is when his disappearance got here to mild.

‘That explains Magma’s funding’ Steven sighs as soon as extra.

Apparently, Maxie hasn’t been idle over time with reference to his pokemon. His stint as a coach painted him as somewhat common, but when his Camerupt may combat and defeat three above-average groups all on the similar time, then the Camerupt should at minimal be an Elite. That alone is worrisome, however even worse are the opposite issues reported by younger Brendan.

The Claydol.

The risks introduced by pokemon in a position to manipulate minds can’t be overstated. Thoughts studying, reminiscence wiping, psychic domination? All felonious crimes punishable by a long time, if not life, in jail. Even frontier areas and the borderline anarchist land of Orre agree on such issues. The lack of one’s sanctity of thoughts is a novel horror that many cannot even correctly fathom, and that is the rationale why League-sanctioned Psychic-types are educated so completely, and why newbie Psychics meddling the place they should not be are punished so harshly.

The outline of the occasions upon the volcano makes it seem to be Maxie was treating the cardinal sins of Psychic manipulation as a guidelines. What on the earth is compelling the person to do that? Regardless, Magma has made their intentions clear, and they are often afforded no quarter.

‘What’s Workforce Aqua doing throughout all of this?’ Steven can not help however surprise. Have they got one thing much more insidious deliberate? Are they merely sitting again and watching? The inaction of Magma’s rivals is disconcerting.

“Champion Stone?” Steven’s deskphone asks. “Are you there?”

With a begin, Steven realizes he is nonetheless on a convention name with Lavaridge’s Chief Ranger. “My apologies, I used to be busy pondering,” he says, sitting up and steepling his fingers on his desk. “Thanks to your immediate report, Ranger Jeremiah. I will contact the Division of Justice as soon as all the correct stories are on my desk and we are able to make sense of the state of affairs. I’ve a sense that Magma and their rivals, Aqua, are going to be needed males very quickly.”

“That is good to listen to, sir.” The ranger sounds relieved. “I am going to preserve my males on high-alert. Do we now have a timeframe on when we’re going to obtain an official replace?”

Steven mulls it over. “That is troublesome to say. I will be personally overseeing the progress of this investigation, and I think about that we’ll have an official determination inside”

“Two weeks?” Maxie’s frown is as grim as grey demise itself. “Physician, I imagine that you’re mistaken.”

The interviewer frowns. “Physician Kale, I urge you to rethink. We want to put your abilities to make use of for the nice of the world. We intend to push the boundaries of recognized science throughout the discipline of genetics, and your cooperation could be of immense help. Absolutely you perceive?”

“I do,” Hector replies. “Nevertheless, I do not imagine that I’m the very best match for this position. It is a very beneficiant supply, however it’s not for me.”

The person throughout the desk leans again, his glasses catching a harsh glare off of the dim lighting above. “Very nicely. If nothing else, please take this.”

A enterprise card is slid throughout the desk.

“In case you rethink, and I do imagine you’ll, contact me immediately.”

On the plain white enterprise card are a telephone quantity and a reputation.

Dr. Fuji

(9999)-4352-5677

The whole lot after that day instantly spiraled uncontrolled. Two days after the fateful assembly, Hector was known as throughout work to satisfy with a grim-faced Blaine, Health club Chief of Cinnabar Island and Director of the Cinnabar Laboratory of Genetics. Out of nowhere, Blaine knowledgeable Hector that he was being terminated from his place throughout the lab. A shocked Hector tried to ask why, however Blaine would reply nothing.

It is wonderful, Hector thought as soon as the shock handed. There are different jobs. No huge deal.

How improper he was.

Cinnabar College had a gap for a biology professor, however they rejected his software with out a lot as an interview.

A spot was open in Silph Co for a normal laboratory supervisor, however they shot him down inside minutes of submitting a resume.

Hell, an elementary college in want of a substitute science trainer did not even name again.

Seemingly nowhere would take him. Then it dawned on him simply how horrible a mistake agreeing to satisfy Physician Fuji had been.

“In case you rethink, and I do imagine you’ll, contact me immediately.”

He did no such factor. Hector fled the area, operating away to the distant land of Hoenn to flee, for the sheer attain of his tormentors clued him in on precisely who he had slighted.

Workforce Rocket.

Even with out an official Workforce Rocket presence in Hoenn, the black mark painted upon him held quick, and employment was scarce. Right down to his final credit and determined, Hector latched onto the primary individuals to offer him an opportunity.

Workforce Magma.

By the point he realized their true nature, it was far too late. All he had performed was flee from one felony enterprise into one other. Now he is right here, utilizing his hard-earned expertise to maintain a lobotomized monster in a single piece.

Maxie raises an eyebrow, and Hector realizes that he is been silent for a number of seconds. Bowing his head as soon as extra, he speaks. “Sure, Chief Maxie. I am going to make changes to Camerupt’s treatment schedule.”

The red-clad man smiles. “Thanks, Physician. I am going to go away you to your work.” With that, Maxie activates his heel and marches out of the infirmary, Claydol floating silently behind him.

Because the door behind Maxie clicks shut, Hector is left alone. Solely Camerupt’s labored respiration and the sluggish beep of the ECG machine hooked to the residing volcano interrupt the silence. After a protracted second of brooding to himself, the physician steps over to a fridge within the nook, one emblazoned with a big NOT FOR FOOD signal. Opening it and reaching in, he takes a small, unlabeled phial and holds it as much as the sunshine.

The answer throughout the glass phial is evident as water, and nobody would be capable of inform simply how insidious the concoction inside is simply by trying. The drug inside, formulated by Hector’s personal palms, retards the capabilities of a pokemon’s cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, all areas of the mind answerable for larger thought and emotional processing. One dose reduces a pokemon right into a husk for days at a time.

The uncomfortable side effects of long-term utilization? Unknown.

He turns the phial in his fingers, the chemical substances inside refracting the sunshine right into a rainbow.

Anybody else may need been confused as to why Maxie requested for a decrease dose for Camerupt, however to a person like Hector, the reason being as clear as it’s disturbing.

The drug is not an finish in itself; it is merely a set of coaching wheels for Claydol.

“I am sorry, Camerupt,” the physician whispers to himself, shuffling over to a cupboard alongside the wall. Opening it, he withdraws a clear syringe and curses himself underneath his breath. “Not all who put on chains will be brothers.”