Journey Through the Darkness

Chapter 2: Fall of a Legend


Time nearly seemed to stop in those few seconds following the realization of his position.  For a second, he thought perhaps he had been hallucinating, possibly the stress of what he’s doing creating some sort of physical manifestation. Any suspicion of that is quickly wiped however, as he glances slightly over his shoulder, staring right down the barrel of the rifle. Unfortunately, he had not prepared for such a situation. His entire world revolved around computers, as that was his only skill. Hiding was his secondary ability, however, It had proved useless here. To him, a hole underground would be enough, for multiple reasons, the main one being who would find him in such a location? He was severely limited when it came to funds, and was even more limited when it came to pokemon training, so what means to defend himself did he have? However, all current thoughts fade to black, as a secondary warning is issued by the apparent leader of the group. He slowly raises his hands to the air, as he stands. “How’d you get me?” he asks, keeping his gaze averted forwards

The member next to the leader steps forward as he grabs Nathaniel’s wrist, displaying no gentility in his treatment of the new prisoner. He roughly pulls his wrist down and behind his back, before doing the same with the other. He secures him with a special set of handcuffs, designed for the Team Rocket organization by Zane himself. These handcuffs are twice as thick as your regular handcuffs, but for good reason. First off, these handcuffs would deliver a bit of a shock if a certain pulling force were felt on the chain connecting them, almost guaranteeing the wearer would not try to escape. Secondly, the handcuffs had a biometric lock, requiring the thumbprint of the owner of the handcuffs, or that of a superior officer, to be able to open the lock.

The use of this required two powerful lithium ion battery, one to power the scanner and recognition chip, and the other to power the shock, and as such, handcuffs needed to be charged after the lock had been engaged or after at least two shocks had been delivered. Basically, because of the power required, the handcuffs could be used up to four times under usual circumstances, enabling two arrests between charges. Of course, in case the power were to die for some reason or another, there had to be an emergency release. This emergency release is located under thumbs scanning area, easily opened by prying it off using something very fine and sharp, and pressing the manual release switch. Though it seemed like much of a hassle, it was actually a fairly easy thing to do, for those experienced in the way the handcuffs had worked. Not every member of Team Rocket were granted access to this technology. Only advanced members sent on ‘retrieval’ missions were provided, and as such, were usually the best of the best.

Nathan glances over his shoulder with a scowl, not taking kindly to being handled so roughly. A second thought that entered his mind was the great annoyance that his questions wouldn’t be answered so quickly. However, once he turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of the M1 Garanbull aimed right between his eyes, he looks forward again. As much as he hated to admit It even now, he was very, very caught. He would have to think of a way to sneak out later, but for now, he would highly prefer to live to see another minute, rather than to resist now and be bringing his fists to a five-on-one fight. He had no martial arts training of any kind, now regretting that he didn’t train at the Fighting Dojo of Saffron City when he had the chance. On the other hand, what could he do? He had something in mind. If he had been trained, the most ‘logical’ choice would be to do a back kick right into the guy’s chin, while simultaneously grabbing his rifle and falling forward. He would then roll onto his stomach, and fire the rifle off rather quickly, using only his toes. Well, it seemed logical enough to him at least. He watched too many kung fu master flicks. In reality, he had no such chances of escape, and as such, quite reluctantly went along with his capturers for now.

The leader lowers his rifle, sensing the surrender of the mark, as he turns away. He raises his left hand up to his head, pinky at his mouth, thumb at his ear, appearing to be making the classic ‘call me’ gesture. However, in reality, he is really placing a call. Unlike TRAINSS and the handcuffs, this technology had not been developed by Zane, but was instead put out by the Research and Development section of Team Rocket Kanto. Inspired by fake products used to promote the science fiction show Discovery, one of the technicians in that division devised a similar system. A high-quality microphone similar to what’s used to wire people in television shows, is connected via a small wire under a glove, to a device. This device, encased in high-impact plastic, is located on the back of the hand as to not interfere with usual operations. It utilizes technology similar to the one found in the pokegear to place a call to one of five pre-programmed numbers over an doubly-encrypted line. To prevent line hacking, the call can only be received by a person with the decryption capabilities tuned to the specific encryption of the signal. The earpiece of this device is strapped around the thumb, and is activated by simply pressing the thumb and pinky together, and saying a number between one and five, which corresponds to the programmed number. Pressure pads turn on the device, which automatically turns off if no number is said within two seconds of activation, to prevent accidental calling.

The leader speaks directly with Giovanni, informing him of the successful capture of the Crimson Pikachu. He motions with his other hand, causing the one of the other members to hit him in the back of the knees with his rifle, knocking Nathan off of his feet, a process he found rather painful, and he let them know it with a rather audible yelp. He and the handcuffing member pick him up, and carry him off, the others following quickly behind. They carry him away, out of the building, to a waiting vehicle. Despite it being a Team Rocket vehicle, this was used for when they needed to travel in the open, yet at the same time be undercover. Technology to produce invisibility, something that would be highly to stealth movement’s benefit, was nowhere near completion. Though faux invisibility could be achieved via a device used to bend light rays around a person or object, this proved rather ineffective, as should the object move too rapidly, the bending technology would not be able to keep up, either showing ripples in the light, or complete visibility. Thermal imagery equipment and regular poke-noses could also detect an ‘invisible’ object, thus rendering existing technology virtually useless.  This vehicle was one of the ones they had planned on testing it on, but didn’t, as if they did, it would have stood out more as something villainous, rather than an innocent-looking passenger van.

They carry him into the back of this van, using a regular set of handcuffs to secure him to a metal seat used for captured individuals. Three of the five people sit on rather plush, comfy-looking, black-upholstered seats and buckle themselves in, while the leader and second in command take driver and passenger seats. The leader of the group starts the engine of this van, and drives off at a high rate of speed into the night, towards the southeast of Cerulean City.

At Team Rocket headquarters..

Just the mention of Team Rocket brings up thoughts of great evil and dark, dim buildings in the minds of most people. As such an evil yet powerful organization, one would expect the ground floor of Team Rocket to be filled with armed guards at all times, with maybe one or two elevators and a few doors that lead off into the various areas of the organization’s base. The thought of metal detectors, thermal imaging scanners, and frisking may also come to mind, as assuredly, such a high tech organization wouldn’t be stingy about ground floor security; after all, what kind of dark organization wouldn’t want the highest amount of security and displays of power in just their ground floor alone? To all those not of the organization, these are the images of the entryway to Team Rocket.

However, these mental images are incorrect.

In fact,  the ground floor more resembles the lobby of a fancy hotel, than some sort of stereotypical dark base of evil. White marble columns reach up two stories at least, to the towering ceilings of the lobby, standing in great contrast to the black marble walls, and crimson marble flooring, all kept in pristine condition. There are many decorative plants arranged in an aesthetically appealing array. A velvet, black carpet extends from the easy opening double doors, past a good amount of red and white, expensive chairs, some black-painted oak tables, all the way to an old-fashioned yet modernly-designed oak desk. Behind this desk, a receptionist sits, ready to greet any who inquire about something with a friendly smile and a warm hello. On the back wall above her, there is a single, massive, red R, as one might expect. The entire area is lit up by two crystalline chandeliers, hanging high above the ground floor. The addition of two ceiling to floor waterfalls about halfway through the lobby add to the beauty, as the light reflects off them, creating a breathtaking rainbow effect. Towards the back of the lobby, down branching paths, are elevators and doors, monitored by security cameras hidden in the waterfalls and chandeliers, and protected from unauthorized entry by biometric scans.

It is just inside this lobby that Giovanni himself stands, arms behind his back, chest sticking out, a dark grin across his face. It was rare for him to stand in plain view of the members of his organization, as he preferred to keep people on their toes by remaining a rather mysterious figure shrouded in darkness, but today was special. As he explained to anyone who had the nerve to inquire, he had a special guest he expected to arrive soon, whom he wanted to greet personally. However, the amount of people that used the lobby for foot traffic had grown since his appearance, as since rumor spread of his appearance, members had been swarming just to take a look. Because of this, and because of the need to retain a certain level of secrecy, all foot traffic had been redirected. This left only two people in the lobby. The friendly receptionist, allowed to stay because of appearance reasons, and of course, Giovanni.

It is not too much longer, before a certain van pulls up in front of the lobby. The elite team climb out of the vehicle, quite literally dragging a kicking Nathaniel into the building. They drag him over, and stand him up, facing Giovanni, whilst simultaneously jamming the rifle into his back as a way of saying ‘any unexpected movements and you might be missing an organ or two’. The leader steps forward, and nods once. “Sir. As requested, we have retrieved the Crimson Pikachu. As per your directions, we are releasing him into your custody, and your custody alone.” he says, as one of the other members of the team releases the biocuffs. The group of them step back, and turn around, exiting the building to return to their duties. None of them wait around for Giovanni to say another word, as none of them need to. They all knew exactly what to do, because of the last conversation. Giovanni’s continual silence had indicated he had no further use for them at that moment.

Nathaniel rubs his wrists a little, as he lets out a low growl. Being forcefully abducted like this was bad enough, and being shoved in here was even worse. He was quite angry, angry enough to be somewhat blind of his surroundings. It is only after a few minutes, that he glares up at Giovanni’s intimidating frame. The realization of where he is and who this man is immediately strikes him. “Giovanni.” he says, unintentionally. He had found out from his bringing down of Team Rocket Hoenn, that Giovanni was the leader of the Team Rocket organization. By things he’d read, Giovanni appeared to be an eyebrow-less, towering figure whose gaze could send chills down the spine of any who dare to look at him. However, despite feeling this chill first-hand by gazing at his face, he felt a certain determination. After all, he was free now, and all that stood between him and freedom was some old man. If hacking television broadcast feeds had taught him anything, it had been that everyone has a weak spot. If he could manage to land one solid punch, right on the big guy’s chin, he could likely knock him out and take him hostage. Filled with a  strange sort of resolve at his very desperate, not well thought out, stupid plan, he steps forward, and attempts a strong uppercut.

His attempts at the uppercut don’t go quite as well as he intended. Giovanni, despite probably being in his early forties, was by no means some average guy. Under the business suit, there was in fact a very muscular physique, achieved from devoting at least one weekend a month to intense training including, but not limited to, boxing with pokemon and cliff diving with Aerodactyl, a time he refers to as ‘nature retreats’. The punch doesn’t get anywhere close to making contact as, as soon as it reaches his chest, he grabs Nathaniel by the wrist, stopping the attack instantly. Though he could’ve easily let it be at that, he, determined to show that no punk could dare raise a fist against him and get away with it, turns and, in one fluid motion, pulls the arm over his head. With the arm, goes a very surprised Nathaniel, however this surprise quickly gives way to intense pain Giovanni slams him square onto his back on the cold, marble floor, an action strong enough to make his glasses fly clean across the lobby.

Giovanni brushes his hands together in a ‘cleaning off’ motion, and glares down at him. “You’re even more of a fool than I thought you to be.” he says, his voice a combination of disdain, intrigue, and even the slightest tone of disappointment. “It’s unfortunate. For a second, I truly considered offering you a position in my organization. After all, it’s not everyday some punk kid cracks one of the most secure systems in the world. How unfortunate of you to go and do something stupid like this. I give you my word, you will regret trying to cross me.” he says as he walks off towards the receptionist, leaving Nathaniel twitching, and gasping for air. There is an audible crunch, as Giovanni crushes his glasses into many pieces, though the intentionality of this action could not be known. He stops at the desk, and places his hands on it, giving the receptionist a very serious look. “Contact the Research and Development level. Inform them that there is a new person on the first floor, who requires ‘special treatment‘. Make sure they bring a sedative, because this kid will assault if given the chance. I will be there in ten minutes to personally oversee this procedure.” he states, his voice now containing an eerie quality that strikes the same feeling as when he speaks through the voice scrambler. He walks over to the elevator without another word, as the receptionist, scared out of her mind yet trying her best not to show it, calls the R&D division after regaining her composure.

Team Rocket Base: Research and Development Level

On the fourth sublevel of Team Rocket Kanto, sits an entire floor dedicated to research and development, mostly centered around scientific and mechanical engineering breakthroughs. Giovanni’s mother, Madame Boss, had never considered investing Team Rocket’s funds into some form of R&D division, relying on sheer force and strength of will to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, this was mostly to the organization’s detriment. Under her control, team members often found themselves going after the great unknown with nothing but pokemon at their sides, and little in terms of technology. For that reason they lost many of their great members, including Miyamoto, who were often never heard from again, and never found. However, not all the blame could be put on her. She had little in terms of advanced technology to fund, and because of that, likely found little worth trying to discover.

It was in fact Giovanni himself to put funding from Team Rocket’s various legal business fronts, such as Pokemon Island or Salon Roquet, to fund an R&D floor. Initially, he had gone his mother’s way of doing things: force capture, extort, steal, and run, however, it was during the raid on Silph Co. where he was fully able to appreciate the potential that investigating in technology could bring to the organization. In his time there, before they had to vacate the premises, he witnessed advanced technologies such as teleporting pads, biometric security, advanced computers, everything that would greatly add to the stability of his organization, and in the long run, improve the lifeline of it. It was also the place where he managed to recruit some of the brightest minds around in the fields of computer science. Once the Team Rocket organization grew strong enough to expand into other regions of the world, his amount of funding into scientific advancement increased dramatically.

His first investment into advanced science came shortly after his members recovered an eyelash belonging to the pokemon of legend, Mew. Through research and searching, he managed to come across a man known as Dr. Fuji, a person obsessed with cloning his late daughter, Amber. Seeing the potential in his science to greatly benefit his organization, he offered to fund Dr. Fuji’s research, under the condition that he clone the DNA found in the eyelash. While the preparations had been made, Giovanni, concerned over the security and ability to trust Dr. Fuji, had Zane secure the island on which the research facility had been, by integrating the computers there with the early framework of the TRAINSS system. This proved to be more to his benefit as, when Mewtwo, the result of the DNA cloning, attempted to destroy the lab, TRAINSS reacted with force to protect the scientists and research there. However, because Mewtwo was so powerful, and TRAINSS so young, the system could only damage Mewtwo, before being destroyed itself. Luckily for the organization, TRAINSS had managed to store every bit of data from its integration with the computers there, thus rendering the incident not at an entire loss. The rest surrounding Mewtwo, best left for another story.

The data about Dr. Fuji’s experiments had provided a giant jumpstart to the Research and Development level. An entire sublevel made entirely of storage had been cleared out. Concrete ceilings, walls, and floors lined with various protective additives had been put in. Machines of all kinds either based off of Dr. Fuji’s creations, or based off of creations taken from all over the world had been added. The best minds Giovanni could find in the fields of biology, genetics, chemistry, biomechanics, neurology, and countless other fields had been gathered. Despite success being made in the field of cloning, it proved to be a very dangerous and unprofitable area of research, and as such, cloning experiments were strictly prohibited. However, years have been going into research involving things like nanobots, invisibility, accelerated healing, mass teleportation, and even genetic engineering, with mostly little results. However, Giovanni understood that science itself was a slow process, and as such, was more lenient with getting results as he was with the other divisions.

Similar to the security floor, there are dozens of scientists, all under the watchful eye of one leading scientist. This scientist goes by the name of Doctor Joachim Brightwater, a mid-thirties graduate of the University of Kanto. He stands above most other members at a height of about six feet, seven inches. His hair is a jet black color, which only serves to show off his cold, calculating blue eyes. Unlike the stereotypical smart scientist type, he wore no glasses or contact lenses, just the stereotypical white lab coat and gloves. Similar to Zane, he was a child prodigy, but excelled in the field of science. In fact, his knowledge was such advanced, he was regarded as the go-to person in the fields of genetics, neurobiology, pathology, and artificial cell creation, his knowledge covering both humans and pokemon.

Unlike Zane, however, he was a rather famous scientist, a professor at Pokemon Tech, and earned good money. Through his research, he was the first to discover the cause and effects of the pokerus, one of the few pokemon-restricted diseases, and with that, a way to make the pokemon’s immune system fight it off even faster than usual. Also, by studying cells involved in the pokemon immune system, he had been able to create detailed, theoretical cures for many common human ailments, an action which brought him a great amount of prestige However, like Zane, he wasn’t satisfied with his job. Though he was able to come up with these cures, he had absolutely no hand in creating them himself, instead being the one the creators went to for assitance. As valuable as his teachings were, and as much as he liked to teach and help, he felt he would rather spend his time in a lab creating things to change the world, than teaching about the finer points of battling or watching things from the background.. Unlike most of the staff of the R&D department, he had approached Giovanni himself. He had heard about how two of the worst students of Pokemon Tech in history, Jessie and James, had managed to make it into the organization, and wondered that if they would let them in, if they had a place for him. Giovanni, well-informed of his fame, accepted him into the organization, immediately appointing him as head of the entire level. With great resources and coworkers at his disposal, he managed to help create minor technologies like the handphone and specialized helmet, but his greatest achievements in the organization would prove to be in genetic research and engineering.

Currently, Joachim is busy at an eighties-styled, yet modern-gutted computer. On the screen, a 3-d model of some form of complex DNA strain is on display. He is busy moving things around on this screen, using the ‘tools’ at his disposal to alter and flip and rearrange the strain. He types across a keyboard not only containing alphanumeric characters, but strange symbols each representing a protein or the like involved in genetic makeup. The sample of DNA is a 3-d representation of genetic code taken from a Charizard. Joachim is making alterations and additions to this model and, every so often, pressing the ‘Render’ button, which feeds the information to a program able to read the model, and construct a 3-d computer graphic image of what the DNA would look like post-alteration. Currently, he’s trying to compare brainwave patterns taken from pokemon during an evolutionary phase, and compare them with before and after DNA patterns, in order to locate the one or ones that trigger the change in physical form. He has had no definite result yet, but he does have a general idea of where it might be taking place.

The reason behind this research was not purely for scientific breakthrough: he figures that discovering what triggers this would be used to make a serum that would produce an artificial evolution. If he were able to do this, pokemon could be caught fresh from the wild, forced through evolution, then sent off to one of Team Rocket’s game corners, thus cutting the cost to produce prizes to near-zero. In addition, he theorized the possibility of a ‘Devolution Spray’, a chemical that would be absorbed by the pokemon being attacked. This chemical would act on the gene responsible for evolution, and reverse the process on one strand, creating a chemical reaction across all strands that would  revert the pokemon to its earliest stage of evolution. This, however, was purely theoretical. He could only do this if different pokemon that evolved shared the same strand of DNA that inhibits evolution. If he were able to perfect such a spray, it could prove to be invaluable to Team Rocket during mass raids, however currently, he found himself years away from being able to test such a thing.

Unlike most of the other members of Team Rocket, who thought pokemon as nothing more than tools and objects to be used then thrown away at the sign of failure, Joachim felt different. He did, in fact, feel so different he flat out refused to use his test serums on regular, everyday, healthy pokemon. This feeling seemed to be contradictory, hypocritical, considering Joachim’s work, however the thought that he may be contradicting himself never crossed his mind. Because of this feeling about pokemon, he instead used his test serums on a special group of individuals, hand-picked by Giovanni himself to be given ‘special treatment’. In fact, the distinct sound of a vacuum-sealed door suggested he would be meeting another person retrieving ‘special treatment’ right now. Saving his data, he stands from the computer, calmly walking down the pristine white walkway, to a seven-foot-tall door, leading to a vacuum-sealed room.

This room, referred to all here as the ‘Test Chamber’, is a room entirely sealed. Oxygen inside is recycled via a machine located somewhere in the ceiling, and could keep the same air breathable for a full twenty-four hour period, before the air would have to be recycled. This prevented any toxins or fumes given off by test liquids from escaping and potentially contaminating the rest of the establishment. The door to this room is large, metal, and protected by hand scan, retinal scan, and voice recognition systems. The walls are white, not able to see through, however there is a room off to the side where observations can take place from behind a one-way mirror. The walls themselves are one foot thick solid steel, the windows: highly reinforced glass. The room underwent a thorough cleansing and checking before and after every test conducted. Inside the room itself, it is lit via ceiling lights fit directly into the tile. There is a compact electric generator in the corner, able to provide power to all internal systems for a full 24 hours, before needing to be recharged. Since this room was for Joachim’s research alone, in it sat a surgical bed with heavy duty restraints, an overhead light, the standard operating tools, an ECG monitor, a brainwave monitor, a defibrillator and various other machines used to save a subject who may be experiencing health problems, and sedative-using weapons in case of emergencies.

Currently inside this room, some young guy is being strapped into the bed by two of his assistants. He has a needle sticking out of his neck, a strong indication that a sedative has been used on him. This was not as surprising as the fact that Giovanni himself was standing in the room, arms behind his back, grinning darkly at this kid. Giovanni only sent instructions from his place on high, so he was actually quite curious to find out what the special occasion was for, though his face and demeanor showed little sign of his intrigue. He quickens his pace, entering the room. He stops near the ‘bed’, and grabs the needle out of his neck, before glancing at Giovanni, his look now conveying inquiry.

Giovanni just stares at the kid, glaring a bit. Though he senses Joachim looking at him, he doesn’t return the glance, instead keeping his gaze fixated on the individual in the bed. “I know what you’re thinking. Who is he? Well..” He glances at Joachim, finally. “He, is your latest person to receive your ‘special treatment’. You may know him. Crimson Pikachu. He was caught earlier this evening, and brought back here. He assaulted me.” he states, in a cold, matter-of-fact tone. “However, I have two special requests for this one. One, do not give him a sedative before initiating ‘special treatment’. I want him fully conscious of what’s going on around him. Only apply the sedative afterwards. Two, do not submit him to your usual line of force evolution tests. They have a tendency to.. incapacitate the subject at hand, and I need him alive and well. I will be watching everything from the Viewing Room. Do you understand?”

Though he did have a few questions for Giovanni, he gave a nod signifying he did, in fact, understand. These questions nagged at his mind, as he exits from the Test Room, heading off to an area where he uses computerized data to create the serums used in the ‘special treatment. More questions and concerns continue to fill his mind. Why would Giovanni request he be awake? It’s thought that the procedure would be extremely painful to one not under sedation, and could cause the person to seize or enter cardiac arrest. Furthermore, why no serum? Did Giovanni have something special planned for him? He figured so but, preferring to continue his work, decided not to question it. Within seconds, a green liquid appears in a small vial, which Joachim picks up, carrying back to the room. Making sure he and his assistant are in the room, Nathaniel is secured to the table, and Giovanni is out of harm’s way, he begins preparations for the injection..

Team Rocket Base: Research and Development Floor: Test Room

A small groan escapes Nathan’s lips as his eyes slowly begin to open. In his blurred vision, he sees a dark blob, a lighter blob, and that’s about it. He tries to rub his eyes, but finds he is unable to, his arms held in place by an unseen force. The strong, odd smell of a sterilized environment, the distinct, yet somewhat faded sound of a beeping ECG monitor, and a distorted voice leads him to believe he’s possibly in a hospital. Though his mind is somewhat clouded, it soon begins to fade, as well as the video and audio distortions. He makes a bit of a noise, as he loops up, seeing surgical lights, and the shadowed face of a doctor and nurse, presumably the blobs. Was his entire Team Rocket experience a dream? He didn’t know. However, the more his vision clears, the more he realizes: the surgical lighting above him was in the shape of an R. Though immediately he felt the desire to try to escape, he felt him still quite groggy, and unable to move much, thus rendering him helpless. He just groans again, and tries to talk himself into being able to move.

The doctor shines a light in his eyes, and nods. “Welcome back. You were out for so long, we thought we lost you, like you’d had an allergy to the sedatives.” he says, for fun trying his best to sound like an average medical doctor, as he checks his vitals. “Today is your lucky day. Giovanni doesn’t seem to want to put you through the full ‘special treatment’, so all I’m going to do is inject you with this here, we’ll see what happens, then I guess your next step will be decided by Giovanni.” he says, taking the vial and syringe from the doctor. The vial contains a thick, rather viscous-looking black liquid, of which has the slightest tint of yellow. He draws, with some slight difficulty, the liquid into the syringe, before cleaning out the air bubbles by squirting a little onto a pad. “Now, normally I would explain what happened later, but heck, let’s go ahead and go through this now. It should be more fun. This vial here contains artificial cells, designed around the human white blood cell. These cells are designed to spread through the blood stream, killing existing white blood cells. Once the cells are expunged, the artificial cell part dissolves away, and releases a sort of mutagen through the body. This mutagen, based off of the cellular structure of Ditto, targets the specific acids and proteins that make up human DNA, It destroys target strands, replacing them entirely with strands coded into the mutagen and.. well. you’ll see what happens from there in a few minutes.” he says, as he sticks the needle into his arm, injecting the liquid with a little difficulty. After this is done, he steps back, and prepares the tranquilizer gun, in case the need arises. The nurse, meanwhile, stands next to the defibrillator, prepared to use it in case something happens.

For Nathan, the pain from the injection is immediate. The liquid itself, due to the thickness of it in comparison with his own blood, caused for a rather painful transition. He relaxes a little, though, as that pain resides. However, it’s not ten minutes, before a series of sharp pains return. There are audible cracking and popping noises, as inside, his skeletal structure begins to go under a drastic rearrangement. Bones seem to melt away or reshape, mostly retracting in size. On his head, skin is pulled as his ears slowly move to the top of his head, becoming rather elongated. At the same time, muscle and fatty tissue are reshaped, the excess appearing to mysteriously vanish into thin air. His internal organs begin to change form and realign to keep up with this changing skeletal structure, a process that had Nathan practically screaming for bloody murder, at the sheer amount of pain this brought. As his hips realign themselves, the spin pushes out past their intended end, extending the skin along with it. The skin their evens out, thinning into a somewhat reminiscent of a feline. Most of the excess tissue is moved up around the chest area, which has since become more pronounced and pushing out, again in a more feline way. His fingers and toes sort of meld together in a way, as the skin on there hardens and bunches, taking on a leathery, pad-like texture. The pupils of his eyes dilate entirely, until they take up the entire iris. A red color completely overtakes the surrounding white, as the shape of the eye changes to represent something more feline in appearance. His head slopes as the shape of his cranium shifts to suit this new style. As the transformation slows, the pain begins to die down. All of his hair begins to fall out, having to be brushed away by the nurse. Nathan feels a strong itching sensation, as little strands of black fur begin to poke out all over his body. Within seconds, every single inch of skin is covered in black fur of varying lengths, however, some of this black fur changes to yellow, which gently shines with a bioluminescent glow.

It is after this show of bioluminescence, that the transformation finally subsides. Nathaniel, too in-shock by the amount of pain he had been put through, stares upwards at the ceiling, a blank look across his ‘face‘. Joachim’s face appears in his line of vision, smiling slightly, with the smallest hint of a dark satisfaction present. “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asks, despite it obviously being rhetorical. “Very nice handiwork, if I do say so myself. Here, why don’t you have a look?” he says, as he moves a surgical mirror over his face. In the reflection is that not of Nathaniel, but rather, of an Umbreon with its rings aglow. The only indication that there was even any part of Nathaniel left, were a small few strands of red hair on his head. Despite this being an obvious flaw in the transformation design, it was not entirely unpredicted. Despite Joachim’s advancements in genetic engineering, he could not fully extract the human DNA from a subject. Often, they retained human memory, knowledge, and reasoning skills, and even more often they retained a certain trait. The mutagen was based entirely off of Ditto’s cellular structure, and as such, could not fully respond to human DNA, likely the purpose for the abnormality. This bothered Joachim not in the slightest, as perfection was not needed with these subjects. In fact, the reason he was so non-caring was not so much because a full transformation didn’t matter, but rather was that the transformation went off without a hitch. Because of the amount of different forms Eevee could take, DNA from it and its ‘Eeveelutions’, as they’re called, are fundamentally unstable. Without a slightly altered source, the genetic coding would be far too unstable under usual circumstances, rendering direct-to-Eeveelution changes practically impossible. Naturally, Joachim had found some way he thought to get around the instability, and, eager to try his new mixture out, chose Nathaniel as the perfect subject.

However, a lack of response from Nathaniel did bother him a bit, as he felt a certain twinge of disappointment. Truth be told, he liked seeing his subjects’ first response when it’s completed, but on the other hand, he’d never had a person be conscious during this process. While unhappy, he did understand it was likely he was in shock right now, as the amount of pain seemed like it was horrendous. Instead of dwelling on this, however, he retrieves his tranquilizer gun, and aims it at the new pokemon, waiting for further instructions.

Meanwhile Giovanni, having watched the entire process, just gives off a grin darker than usual. He laughs quite a bit, as he flips a switch, adjusting the light in such a way that the two of them could see each other. He turns on the intercom system, and laughs again. Truth be told, he rather enjoyed seeing the person who had caused so much trouble for him, writhe in pain. Served him right, for trying to take down his organization, for trying to destroy everything he built up with his bare hands. He was very happy with the results and, despite him wanting to see a Pikachu as the transformation of choice, just for the sake of irony, he had to admit he wasn’t disappointed. “Joachim, shoot him, then have a technician leave him in the lobby. I’ll make arrangements for his disposal.” he says in a dark voice, before his laughter picks up again. Not waiting for a response, he turns off the intercom, and the switch enabling both to be able to see each other, before he heads for his office to make pickup arrangements. As he enters the elevator, the sound of a rifle discharge can be heard, as Joachim fires a tranquilizer into Nathaniel’s neck.

Near dawn, inside Viridian Forest

Nighttime in the Viridian Forest. Though deforestation had taken its toll, reducing the trees of the forest by over half, pokemon who had chosen to stay behind still managed to find a peaceful home. In fact, most of those pokemon are currently asleep, the nocturnal ones preparing for a full day of rest, while the others remain fast asleep, not quite ready to awaken yet. Far in the distance, the very distinct light of twilight filters through the trees, starting to rouse the pokemon. A gentle breeze blows through, slightly rustling the leaves. There are no pokemon trainers about, leaving the area in perfect peace

This peace, however, doesn’t remain for very long, as it is through this forest, that a motorcycle drives, breaking the beauty of it. This bike is what is referred to as a Rapidasher. It has all the speed and power of a professional racing motorcycle, except it stands out as a Team Rocket vehicle, as can be told by various red Rs covering the black paint. On this motorcycle, a rather tough-looking rocket Grunt speeds through, carrying something in a brown sack. There is a screeching noise, as the grunt slows to a stop, and looks around a bit. “Dispose of this thing somewhere in the wild. Got it.” he says, apparently repeating orders to himself, given from Giovanni. He nods once, and twirls the bag around, before throwing it high, and far. Thinking his job done, he turns around, and speeds off towards the Viridian City facility, the nearest facility to his location. It was nearing dawn, and the least the Team Rocket organization needed was an open conflict with the police over a little disposal.

The bag, meanwhile, sails through the air and the trees, apparently being thrown quite hard. The bag flies through the trees for a good few minutes, before a wrinkle in the bag finally catches on a high-up branch. A thing, an Umbreon formerly known as Nathaniel, falls from it, hitting his head and back against branches, the sedative apparently still in effect. There is some noise as he falls into the awaiting bushes below, causing Rattata and Pidgey and Weedle to scurry away as fast as possible. There, on the forest floor, a somewhat battered Umbre/Nathan lies, covered in leaves, twigs, and dust. A small bit of blood begins to drip from his head, as he twitches the slightest bit, before he stops moving.