PROLOGUE: 

 

In a desolate area of what used to be Cinnabar Island, a lone figure
in a white labcoat stood shivering in the cruel wind as it sliced through
his dark brown hair. A label was imprinted on the chest pocket of his coat. It read: Professor Elm. 
The sun had set hours ago. He set his pale blue eyes on the steely water just a over a meter away from where
he stood. It smacked against the night-black rocks on which he was standing
and sprayed icy foam over his ankles. It's unnerving, he mused. I may be standing
on somebody's house for all I know. He recognized the ash, coloured
rocks as hardened lava. He sighed. No one had expected the eruption
of Cinnabar Volcano. It had been so sudden. So much destruction. So many
deaths. Suddenly he shook his head vigourously. He couldn't think about
that now. He had more pressing matters. Out of one of the pockets of his
labcoat, he pulled a waterproof speaker and inched slowly towards the
water.

 

                                         ******************                         

 

21 year old Ash Ketchum barely managed to dodge a heavy spurt of fire that was sent 
from a fully-grown charizard. He rolled on the shiny linoleum floor that belonged to
the Rocket Headquarters. He had not expected such tight security when he broke in.
"Nice move, Hunter." sneered the Rocket that owned the great lizard. He wasn't a high
ranking Rocket. Just a soldier, barely over sixteen. He had that determination, that
confidence that Ash knew so well a few years back. Behind him were about twenty more
soldier Rockets with Charizards, Electubuzz and Kangaskan, and more were definitely
on their way. Ash flipped to his feet and turned to face his opponents. " Pikachu, I
choose you." he stated, placidly. A small, bright yellow mouse-like pokemon appeared
out of nowhere with a spark of lightining."Defence Stance." Ash commanded. Pikachu immediatly
crouched on its hindlegs with its front two paws lifted at either side.
"Oh, look fellas, he's asking his puny rat to defend him!" one of the Rockets guffawed.
"Alright then, lets turn the Pikachu into dog meat first!" cried the young Rocket with the
Charizard. "Pyro, Heat Wave! Show this pathetic Hunter what Rockets are made of!" The giant beast
shot what seemed to be a tsunami of molten lava from its mouth
towards pikachu and Ash." "Pikachu, Absorb." Ash said, still deathly calm.
Pikachu began glowing yellow, its eyes tightly shut in concentration,  just  as the lava hit them. But instead of turning
into cinders, Pikachu seemed to be taking the lava into its cheek sacs. They
began pulsing at a very high speed. The Rockets were speechless with disbelief. An unscathed
Ash broke the silence by saying, "Pikachu, Heat Wave." Pikachu jumped into the air and glowed a
dark red. "Piiiikkkaaaaaaa!" it expectorated just before a giant wave of lava smothered
the Rockets and their Pokemon, turning both into an unrecognizeable heap of ashes.

 

Ash dusted off his tight black shirt and navy jeans. He turned to his pokemon. "Good job
Pikachu," he said. Pikachu gave a sharp nod and they both began walking to the end of the
large hall they were in, ignoring the gilded statues of pokegods that were lined up, some
now in shambles. Ash's heavy boots made a dull thudding sound on the bright red
carpet they were treading on. The glass-domed roof let a considerable amount of sunlight
through and dark shadows were cast all around them by the statues.
At the end of the hall was a large mahoghany
door adorned with gold edges and silver door handles in the shape of gyarados. "This
is it Pikachu," Ash said. "The boss' quarters."
"Pika." Pikachu confirmed.
Ash pushed the heavy doors outwards and they stepped into the brightly lit room.
They had to shield their eyes until they adjusted to the illumination. When they could open
them, they saw an enormous room with about thirty Rocket soldiers and five generals
with their pokemon poised to attack. At the end of the room was a high platform on which the
Rocket Leader sat on a great wooden throne carved into the shape of a rose.
A large Persian sat at the base of the throne, baring its white teeth. "Hunter Ketchum."
the Rocket Leader proclaimed coldly. "James." Ash replied with a curt nod. "The Persian
growled. "So. Even after what you have done, you have the gall to face me?" said James,
his expression neutral, but liquid-green his eyes blazing with a fiery hatred. "James," Ash started.
"You know what happened was an accident. I never meant to..."
"Shut your face you demonic murdererrrrr." snarled the Persian. "Pikaaa..." Pikachu growled
quietly, cheek sacs beginning to spark dangerously. Ash raised his hand and the sparks subsided.
"Good choice," James smiled icily. "Even your Pikachu couldn't absorb the attacks of all these
pokemon put together. "What makes you think your pokemon would want to attack me?" Ash inquired.
James' eyes wavered towards his pokemon army. They had all turned about and were snarling,
growling, squawking or roaring at their respective trainers, their eyes glowing red like hot
coals. Then he noticed that the Pikachu he was never able to capture had a purple aura surrounding
its body. "A psychic attack..." James was stunned. "Amazing...but how did it know you wanted it to...?
Ah..." James nodded his head in grim satisfaction. "The hand gesture..."
"Yes." Ash replied. "I find that actions speak louder than words, in some cases."
"You're smarter than I thought you'd be, Ketchum," James admitted in defeat. "What do you want?"
"Information." Ash answered shortly.
"On what subject?"
"Brock's disappearance."
"Ah." James smiled again. But it wasn't the smile he used to wear. His smile was now cold, heartless,
as were his eyes. "Ah yes. Brock Stone. Alright Hunter. I will tell you what I know."    
 "As you know, Brock Stone is now the world's most renowned Pokemon Breeder. He has produced incredible
pokemon with enhanced abilities and better human relationships. But that is nothing compared to what he
has been doing in secret. Brock has been able to breed pokemon hybrids."
"Hybrids?" Ash repeated. "You means he can breed two different species of pokemon?"
"Not only that," James replied, "But he has bred two charizards in such a way that the baby Charmander
evolved not twice, but thrice. Brock has created a new race of super pokemon, and I believe that has
something to do with why he has been kidnapped."
"You're not behind his disappearance?" Ash questioned.
"No."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Boy," James growled, "I may be a criminal, but I would never do something as cowardly
 as lie to protect myself. I have told you all I know. Now get out."
"One last thing." Ash looked at James curiously. "Whataever happened to Giovanni?"
James let out a short chuckle. "That old fool had no idea I had been plotting mutiny
against him until the minute I rammed his office door down and, with the help of a few
of his *trusted* cohorts, threw him out of his window on the 250th floor."
"It's not easy to believe you were once that rookie trying to snag Pikachu." said Ash as he turned
to leave, with Pikachu, still mind-controlling the pokemon.
"Time and consequences can change a person, Hunter." James replied, now his hatred showing in his voice.
"But who would know about the consequence that altered me more than you would?"       
The only reply he got was "Pikachu. Teleport."  

 

                                   

 

"Ladies, Gents, Kids 'n' Pokaymon've all species!" yelled the commentator into his microphone.
"Th' momen' you've all bin waitin' fer'! She's the hottest, and coolest, Water Weaver in Cerulean Mertropolis
and this side o' the planet! She'll wonder you with 'er whirlpools 'n' enchant you with 'er eddies! Put yer 'ands t'gether fer the
Dame o' the Deep: Misty Waterflower!!!"
The crowd settled in the giant stadium began cheering themselves hoarse as the the immense
pool of water in the centre of the arena began bubbling and a beautiful woman with aqua blue eyes
and fiery red hair emerged, waving to the audience. She wore a long midnight blue dress which seemed
to repel water, as did her hair.  She continued her ascend until her feet were levelled
with the surface of the water. Then a fountain of water rose under her feet and raised her even higher.
She began motioning with her hands, and the water reacted by moving with them. With this ability she
created intricate patterns and designs with the water. Today there was a little girl sitting in the
front row of the seats, staring in awe at the levitating glob of water that began sculpting itself into
a small figure of a Clefairy. Misty smiled and hovered towards the child. "Hello. What's your name?"
Misty asked in a voice sweet enough to melt a glacier. " Rebecca." the girl answered shyly.
"Do you like this Clefairy?"
"Yeah!"
"Do you want to take it home?"
"Y-yeah."
Misty lowered her face towards the figure and gently blew on it. Immediatly the
water crystallized and became a breath-taking ice sculpture.
"Wow!" squealed Rebecca. "But won't it melt?"
"Never." smiled Misty, floating to the middle of the pool for the grand finale. She lifted her arms high
and half the water from the pool flew up over her and split into three sections. Each section elongated
and contracted until three giant birds materialized. "I give you: Moltres! Articuno! And Zapdos!" cried
Misty as the seeming legendary birds began to do aerial tricks and stunts. The crowd was stunned at
such a feat of control. Very few Water Weavers were able to manipulate such large amounts of water.
At the end of the show, the crowd showered Misty with gold coins, gambling counters and anything
else they could find in their pockets. Slowly the crowd dissappated until only a young man with a
black top, navy jeans with a Pikachu was left sitting. Misty smiled.
"Hey, Ash!"
"Hi Misty."
Ash stood up and walked towards Misty, who gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Pikachu." greeted Pikachu.
"Hi Pikachu." said Misty, kissing it too.
"So, what have you been up to these last three months?" Misty asked.
"Finding Brock."
Misty's smile faded. "Yeah, same here. Did you get any leads?"
"Not really. But James gave me some info."
"James?" Misty repeated, increndulous. "You found Rocket Headquarters?"
"Tracy was a big help. He bugged a Rocket suspect. It's under an old warehouse in Fuschia." Ash informed her.
Misty smirked. "Who would've thought Tracy would become a computer genius? So what did you find out?"
"Seems Brock was working on some sort of super pokemon." Ash replied. "James thought someone kidnapped
Brock for something to do with that."
"And you believe James had nothing to do with it?"
"Not in the least. But I wasn't going to blow his head off for not telling me."
 "So what now?" Misty queried.
"We're going to Brock's breeding centre. The last place he was seen."
"But I've already checked there," Misty told him. "I didn't find anything."
"That's because you didn't know what to look for. Besides you didn't check the lower levels of the Centre."
"How did you know..." Misty began. Then her expression turned to anger. "Ash Ketchum, have you
been stalking me?" Ash gave one of his rare smiles before turning to Pikachu. "Pikachu. Teleport to Celadon
City. And please, not head first this time."

 

                                                                   *********************

 

All was quiet in Professor Elm's laboratory. This in itself was queer, considering the time of day.
At noon, the place was usually a flurry of activity, with hundreds of  people scurrying here and there. But today, the lab was void of life.
Professor Elm was unsure if his new project would be accepted by the Board of Evolution Advances (BEA for short), so he
had found a secluded spot in Fuschia, in an old warehouse that a wealthy entrepreneur had generously allowed him to work in. The
warehouse was just a single spacious chamber, but it served Elm's purpose. It was filled with complex instruments and machinery.
Right now, only the professor's aide was present in the warehouse. He was one of six carefully chosen and trusted people allowed
in the project, and he was restlessly pacing to and fro, waiting for Elm's return. He wondered...maybe this time it would be true.
Maybe the rumour was just a hoax. Maybe...
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the folding door crashing open, and Elm's excited squeaky voice shouting
out, "I have it! I have it! It is true!" The aide ran to his employer, who was holding a rather large metallic container. Every so
often, the container seemed to bend and twist out of shape before returning to it's normal form. "Such power," Elm murmered shrilly.
This container is made of the most powerful metal compound known to man. A million Moltres couldn't even dent it...but this creature..."
The professor put the container on the nearest empty table. He turned to his aide. "Stage One of the Pokegod Project is complete. Now
comes the hard bit. Where is the rest of the team?"
"They are going through the plan one more time. Shall I give them the order to execute it?"
The professor was now trembling with excitement. The time was growng near. Soon...
With an almost maniacal grin, he said: "Do it." 

 

                                                                   *********************

 

Brock's disappearance had not caused his Centre to close down. Luckily, he had left a large sum of money with
a trusted partner who had been using it to keep the Centre breeding more pokemon. Suzie had always admired
Brock's tenderness towards pokemon, and his talent in gaining their trust. She also knew that he would
want his Breeding Centre to keep running under any circumstances, and she respected that. At that very moment
she was monitoring a newly born Ryhorn in an incubating cell. Its premature armour, still soft, had not
formed properly so the pokemon was put under intensive care. She was so fixated on the unfortunate
creature, she didn't notice Ash, Misty and Pikachu materialise with a soft glow of light.
Then she heard a vaguely familiar male voice behind her: "Hey, not bad, Pikachu, I didn't feel too sick that
time. Suzie spun around. "How did you enter this vicinity?" she demanded angrily.
"Calm down Suzie, it's us." Misty groaned. She wasn't used to teleportation.
Suzie's eyes sparked with recognition. "Ash! Misty! Oh it's wonderful to see you again!"
"Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed indignantly.
"Oh, sorry Pikachu, of course I'm glad to see you too!"
Pikachu beamed. "Chu."
"When did you start working here?" Misty questioned, recovering. "I didn't see you last time I came."
"I mostly work on the lower levels, so I don't get out much." Suzie answered. "After Brock vanished I had
to take care of financial affairs so I moved my research to ground level."
"Does your research include hybrids?" Ash asked nonchalantly.
"Why, yes but..." Suzie gasped and clasped her mouth. "How did you know?"
"I have my sources. Suzie, you have to let us see Brock's research on them. It may provide a clue
as to where he is."
I don't know," mumbled Suzie. "It won't be easy getting there without being seen."
"That won't be a problem." Misty assured her. She began expertly maneuvering her hands with infinite
grace. A soft blue aura surrounded Ash, Pikachu and her. Suddenly tiny droplets of water formed in the
air. They began inching towards each other and formed a thick vapour that covered the three. Then
with a last thrust of her hand, the vapour seemed to go tranparent, taking their forms with it.
Only a slight ripple confirmed their presence.
"Shall we go then?" Misty's desembodied voice asked.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu called.
"I'm right here, buddy." Ash said. He felt Pikachu's fuzzy weight climb up to his invisible
shoulder."Neat trick Misty."
"Water Weavers aren't just pretty to look at." Misty informed him.
"O-okay, follow me." instructed a slightly startled Suzie. "Just...just stay close and don't talk."
She made a few last checks on the baby Ryhorn, then placed her hand on an access panel which
scanned her fingerprints, confirmed her identity and allowed her unseen associates and her to exit
the incubation chamber. They stepped from the secluded chamber into a spacious room filled with activity.
The dome-shaped roof was over 25 metres above their heads. Robots were lined throughout the room
and Pokemon of every species were being weighed, measured, vaccinated and observed by enthusiastic
breeders wearing the Stone Breeding Centre uniform (The males wore a white labcoat up to the ankles,
brown pants and shirt, and females wore the same except their garments came up to mid-thigh.
It seemed Brock hadn't lost his slightly perverted streak). The busy state of the place only made it
harder to avoid colliding with anyone.
"We have to get to the end of the room," Suzie whispered warily. "There's an elevator there that goes
to the lower levels." They began inching their way towards the opposite end of the room. At one point,
Pikachu's tail got caught on a passing apparatus that was meant to clamp a Scyther's wings.
Pikachu reacted by involuntarily producing a giant spark of electricity. Luckily Suzie glossed it over
by complaining about the carpets generating too much static. Eventually they got to the lift, Suzie
accessed it via her fingertips and it opened with a faint hum. "Level Five." she commanded clearly.
"Confirmed." went a mechanical voice. Immediately after the door slid close
behind them, Ash, Pikachu and an exhausted Misty hazed into vision.
"Get's...tiring after a while..." she said faintly sliding to the floor of the elevator.
Ash gave Pikachu an almost non-existent signal with his fingers and eyes.
Misty suddenly stood up. "N-never mind, I'm okay now," she said, bewildered. "Funny...I've never recovered so quickly..."
Ash nodded at Pikachu, whose eyes stopped glowing. "Your Recover is improving." he whispered.
"Pi, Pikachu."
"So." Suzie said, turning to Ash. "I haven't seen you in years. What do you do now?"
Misty lowered her head. "It's not really important to know..."
"No Misty," Ash interrupted. "She has a right to know." He turned to Suzie. "Three years ago,
I joined the Defence League in the Indigo Plateau."
"Great!" Suzie smiled. "What's your position?"
"I'm a Hunter."
The smile fell and a look of surprise and slight fear replaced it.
"You're an..."
"An assassin." Before Suzie could interrogate him furthur, a buzz informed them that they had
arrived at their destination. The door slid open and the group stepped into a sober atmosphere. The lights
just a few metres above them were dimmed and added to the eeriness of the place. There were large
glass containers lined against a long wall parallel to them, at least twice the size of a man,
filled with a viscid amber liquid. And there was something else deep within the glutinous fluid.
Dark shapes, very vague, yet incredibly intimidating."Let's have a better look at them, shall we?"
Suzie murmured. pulling out a remote from one of her pockets. She pressed a button and bright
lights that had been installed behind the containers turned on, and clarified what was in those
containers. Ash and Misty were speechless for a moment. They looked incredible. Not deformed and
grotesque as Ash had been picturing them. But he should have known. Brock always had a passion
for beauty.  The container directly in front of them held a Pincer. He recognized the strange gaping
mouth stuudded with vertical rows of contracting teeth. But instead of having stubby, three
fingered arms, they curved out into wicked scythes, and  its stumpy legs were more elongated and slender
than they normally would be. It also had a pair of bladed wings. "That's a..." Ash said. "A Pincer-Scyther hybrid,"
Suzie finished for him. "One of Brock's first cross-breeds. A powerful combination of Pincer's
strength and Scyther's speed. "Unbelievable..." Misty said. Suzie went through each creature, briefly explaining its
improved anatomy. They saw seven breeds, the more impressive were the Rapidash-Gyarados and the Pidgeot-Onix.
"But these are nothing compared to Brock's latest...creation, I dare say." Suzie led them to a room
connected to the previous. It had a single container, slightly larger than the rest. Suzie turned on
its backlight, and Misty jumped back in surprise. It had an almost human like structure.
Bright orange, with long powerful arms and legs and six wings that were wrapped around its dormant body.
Enormous horn sprouted from its head, its crocodile-like mouth, slightly open, revealing bone-crushing teeth.
"A Chareptile," Suzie informed them. "The ultimate evolution of Charmander. It has twice the fire-power of Charizard
and one hundred times the dexterity, agility and evasion. Brock bred the two best Charizards in the Centre to produce
him; the female was Blaine's, and the male was yours, Ash." Ash had given his Charizard to Brock
a few years back. It was obvious that it needed female company so Brock's Centre had been the best choice.
"So this is what Brock was working on before he disappeared?"
 Ash asked, advancing to the container. "No." Suzie answered, motioning them to follow her back to the elevator.
"Level Nine!" she stated. "Commencing indentification system." replied the computer neutrally.
From the shiny metallic walls, a number of devices suddenly protruded. They took Suzie's fingerprints,
did a retina scan and a voice recognition test. "User indentification, confirmed," droned the computer."Proceeding
to Level Nine."
"Very tight security." Ash muttered vaguely. "And for a good reason," Suzie said. "Remember, nothing you see must
leave this room." After a few minutes of silence, the doors yet again slid open to reveal a gigantic circular
 room, with sophisticated  computers that hid the walls from view. Lights flashed continuously, and the floor
seemed to be vibrating slightly. Everything in the chamber seemed to connect, some way or another to a metallic
pillar that was erected straight to the roof, and branched into a number of wires. "Oookay, this is slightly
ominous." Misty stated, hugging herself. Suzie took out a pokeball from her coat. " Ninetales!" she said,
pressing open the ball. A bright beam of energy spurted forward and materialized into a graceful
fox-like pokemon, fur ice-white and eyes bright crimson. "Niine." it said.  "Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted,
recognizing Brock's old Vulpix. "Tails!" it responded happily. "Ninetails, if would please." said Suzie,
gesturing to the pillar." Ninetails strode it, and pressed a furry paw against the side. "More security?"
Misty asked. Suzie nodded. "Only Brock and Ninetails can access this. Pokemon are so much more
trustworthy than humans."
"Access to what?" Misty asked. Suddenly the mechanical voice spoke again. "DNA sample, matched."
"That's getting very annoying." Misty muttered. The metal pillar seemed to open like a door, revealing
a compartment large enough for a young boy to crouch in.
"Thank you Ninetails. Return." Suzie said, recalling the fox-like pokemon into its ball.
"This is what Brock was working on."
"A-a porygon?" Misty asked, staring.
"If it *is* a porygon, it's not a Silph Co.'s one." Ash observed. "Look, it doesn't have the trademark."
It was true. The tiny trademark (An S and C intertwined) was not present on the porygon's holographic
nose. It was different from the usual porygon in several other ways. It had a more slender body and stood upright like
a stocky child. It had blocky legs and even small stick-like arms, ending in three-clawed hands. Right now it didn't show any signs of life.
"It took Brock eight hundred of the best computer technicians on the planet and about
two hundred million in gold to create." Suzie said admiringly.
"It is the most powerful computer generated porygon in existence. Let me explain why:
"As you may know, Silph Co. did not invent the first porygon. It was created by a man only
known as Bill. He was only in the first stages of programming his creation when the plans
were stolen by Silph. They used their own researchers to finish Bill's work and sold the porygon
as a pokemon. Bill sued them, but they have people in all aspects of politics and law. They got out
without a scratch. But what they didn't know was that porygon was never intended to be a pokemon."
She turned and smiled at the motionless form of computer software. "What you see before you is
what porygon should have been. A few years ago we recovered the original blueprint of the porygon model
from a cohort of mine working at the Silph branch in the Orange Archipelago. It was in its first stages as I told you,
but by researching the late Bill's diaries and journals we realized what porygon actually was. It's able to solve
complex problems and manipulate other systems without needing any data input into it."
"But how can it do that?" Misty asked. "No matter how fast and powerful a computer, it needs
some sort of data to work with, right?"
"It's fitted with an AIDA chip, isn't it?" Ash said suddenly.
"Yes!" said Suzie, impressed. "But that has been top secret for the past 3 years!"
"Nothing is secret from me." Ash said quietly, scanning the room. Something was wrong, he was sure of it.
"What's an AIDA chip?" Misty asked.
"It stands for Artificial Intelligent Data Absorption. A piece of hardware with limitless
abilities. It was built exclusively for porygon and allows it to sense its surroundings for
any type of software it can use. So for example, if there was a communications tower
within a 100 mile radius, porygon would *learn* how to send radio signals by using its
own hadware to build and implant a transmitting device into its body."
There was silence in the room for a few minutes."Do you...do you have any idea how dangerous this software
could be in the wrong hands?" Suzie said, trembling slightly. "Imagine. Access to nuclear missiles, private computers,
the pokemon storage system..."
"This is it." Ash said, staring at the porygon. "This is what they want."
"What who want?"
Ash couldn't answer. At that moment the ceiling exploded with a force powerful enough to knock the party down.
Shards  of sharp metal rained down on them, slicing through their skins. Misty, cut and bleeding, drew out
a pokeball. "Golduck! Use Repel!" A bright beam of light revealed a sky-blue duck pokemon that stood on its hind legs.
"Gol-duck gol!" it confirmed. Suddenly the shards were blown backwards as Golduck's Repel attack began. 
Misty looked around.
Everything seemed to be okay, besides the ceiling of course. Suzie stood up shakily and uttered a horrified gasp.
"The porygon! It's gone!"
"It's okay, I have it." Ash emerged from behind the pillar with the porygon clenched carefully in one hand.
Suzie heaved a sigh. "Thank you Ash."
Suddenly a blinding spear of light came searing from the large hole that used to be the roof.
It slammed into Ash's chest with enough forced to send him flying. His body hit the elevator doors
with a powerful impact, and he crumpled to the floor. The porygon flew out of his hands and was
caught by a pair of white-gloved hands.