Chapter Text
Losing track of time was a familiar feeling for Craig. He would get caught up in his research or writing a paper and the next thing he knew it was the next day. Or he'd follow a singular or a group of pokemon exhibiting some odd behavior pattern and get so lost he had to camp out for the night. He did it so often he'd nearly missed his 17th birthday party and was only spared thanks to Tamika making an accurate guess as to what happened and getting him.
What he was experiencing now was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike those situations. It wasn't a matter of his attention being entirely focused on a specific thing. He was perfectly attentive and aware of his surroundings. The problem was that his surroundings gave no indication of time scale. None of his time-keeping or directional assistance apps were functioning correctly. Numbers and read outs changed at random, making it impossible to gain any real information.
He had tactile sensation but only just. He didn't feel heat, cold, or anything of the sort. But when he touched something physical he could feel substance if not detail. He had a pulse, or at least he could read a pulse when he checked. He tried holding his breath and discovered that yes, he did need to breath. So he still existed as a physical being, at least in all the ways he could verify. He glanced at Dedenne's pokeball at his hip. The gold and white one. He wanted to check if he could call and recall Dedenne without effort. He also didn't want to risk losing the ability to do so if it turned out he only got the chance once.
So he walked. He occasionally said things for his recording but it was in hopes of some sort of time stamp since nothing changed. The entire world seemed to be a forest. So he walked. And he walked. And he walked some more. And then he said some things. On and on and on and on and on and....
At first he didn't understand what he was hearing. It had been so long since he'd heard anything other than himself that he couldn't immediately tell the difference between the noise and his own voice. It took several seconds of listening before he managed to identify it – soft crying? Yes, he nodded to himself. Soft crying. He was so proud of himself for identifying it that it took another moment to realize that someone was crying and probably needed help. And then one more moment to realize that meant there was another person. That made him move.
And this time he ran.
He found the source of the crying after an unknown amount of time. Annika was laying on the ground against an old tree stump. He hesitated to call her “injured” as it suggested the wound could be managed. She'd been thrown backwards into the tree stump as indicated by the giant branch sticking through her back and out of her chest. She was able to breath and even cry so he assumed it had missed vital organs. Her left shoulder had been knocked out of socket and her arm hung awkwardly. Her glasses were nowhere to be seen. Her eevee hadn't fared any better. It had a rock embedded in its head and one of its limbs was broken enough to show bone. Its eyes were closed but it was taking wavering breaths.
“Shit,” Craig muttered as he moved quickly towards the child. “Annika?”
“Who...?” Annika opened her eyes, tried to take a deep breath, and cried out as the stab wound was agitated.
“Don't use up yer energy talkin',” Craig told her as he knelt down next to her. “Not 'til I administer some pain killer.” He pulled out his rotom-phone and switched to the medical app. “Don't need to go hurtin' every time you say a word.” He pressed the back of the phone against Annika's non-dislocated shoulder and she relaxed ever so slightly once the medicine started working.
“Who... are you?” She finally managed.
“Memory scramblin' knock to the head. Ouch.” Craig began to scan her physical state. He knew it was pointless but he had to do something. “I'm Craig. We work together at the New Star Research Center. We met when you were knocked outta your own reality.”
“...Oh,” Other Annika said with a small smile. “The other Annika was telling me about you. You've got the chipmunk thing, right?”
“...You ain't the same Annika,” Craig fell back into a seated position as the realization hit him. “What in Mew's nutsack happened?”
“You...” Other Annika coughed, winced, took another breath, winced, and continued. “Your plan worked... I think. Annika activated the Teleport she'd programmed but then...”
“Then the shockwave hit,” Craig said softly. He adjusted his glasses while he tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind.
“... It's okay,” Other Annika said with a pained but somehow genuinely amused smirk. “I already know I'm going to die. You won't hurt my feelings.” She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. Then her eyes snapped open. She almost moved out of excitement but her wounds quickly informed her that was a bad idea.
“Woah, kiddo,” Craig reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “It's just painkillers, yer still gonna die.”
“No, that's not it,” Other Annika said through gritted teeth. She managed to re-situate herself in a way that didn't cause so much pain she couldn't speak. “You're a... you're a researcher, right? Do you have your tools?”
“...Uh?” Craig blinked. Then his own eyes went wide. He got so excited that the tiny amount of work he did to even out his accent went right out the window. “Riaht! Yer still Annika an' ya would'n' wanna miss this.”
“...Wow. You're right, and your accent sounds like my grandpa.” Other Annika said, again with a genuine if pained smile. She began to laugh at her own words as she realized the irony behind what she said. Then she winced in pain and spoke again. “Maybe I'll turn into a cool ghost pokemon when I die.”
“Won't lie,” Craig's excitement died down enough that he went back to his only slightly smoothed out accent. He began to pull small scanning tools from his labcoat pockets. “I kinda wanted to ask but I didn't wanna be an asshole.”
“Please,” she said. “I'm a scientist. Though, uh...” she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she tried to move again. She cried out as her injuries reminded her she wouldn't be comfortable again for the rest of her life. She took a moment to regain her ability to speak and tried again. “If there's a way I could at least sort of move that'd be pretty great. Maybe at least my shoulder?”
“I'll see what I can do,” Craig gave her a soft smile.
* * *
Annika and Failkrow left the apartments via the window, dropping gently on the ground. Both of them moved carefully to ensure no one noticed them as they attempted to flee. They were in luck – the Main Campus was in so much chaos that no one noticed them run down the street, past the guard stations, and into the woods.
“If I've got it figured right,” Annika explained as they got to a small clearing. “I can set the HM mode frequency shift to match your Wing Attack. From there I can activate Fly and it should work.”
The clearing was nothing fancy – just a small spot in the woods. But there wouldn't be anyone to see them – they hoped – and it would give them the time they needed to make things work. Annika moved to a nearby tree stump and hopped up on it to sit. She punched several buttons on her gear and then looked at Failkrow.
“Give me a Wing Attack example so I can do a match.” Annika activated scan mode as Failkrow gave a nod.
Failkrow flapped its wings quickly to lift into the air. Once it got to a safe height it used the move as bid. Its wings began to glow as it dove towards the ground and pulled up at the last moment for what would be the strike had there been an opponent. Annika pressed buttons, waited a few seconds, and then nodded.
“Alright, now give me another Wing Attack.” Annika slid off the tree stump and stepped to a wide open spot. Failkrow nodded and lifted off again. Right when Failkrow started the dive she pressed another button. “Now, use Fly!”
Energy shot out of Annika's wrist device and enshrouded Failkrow. It began to swirl and shift before taking the shape of a bird large enough to ferry humans. It only kept shape for a second before it fluctuated again and threw Failkrow off-balance. The murkrow hit the ground and skidded several feet before coming to a stop.
“Oh crap, I'm so sorry!” Annika winced in an almost exaggerated manner. “I... uh...” she looked down at her wrist device. “I think I didn't account for the spirit differential for energy stabilization...”
“Krow!” Failkrow picked itself up and dusted itself off before giving Annika a dirty look.
“Hey, you should be happy,” Annika said as she looked at her wrist device. She paused for a moment to count on her fingers and then spoke again. “This means you got objectively stronger since the last time I recorded your training information.”
“Krow!” Failkrow walked quickly to Annika and then pecked her once in the shin.
“Ow!” She raised her leg to rub it. The quick motion made her lose her balance and she fell on her back. Or rather, on the hardshell backpack that was her Annigear v.3. The only reason she didn't accidentally whip her head back was pure luck of the landing. She sat up and rubbed her shin while making a mental note to build some kind of head support into her gear.
“Krow!” Failkrow gave her a stern look before walking behind her. It pulled open the berry compartment, grabbed two, and then walked back in front of Annika. It proceeded to eat the berries slowly while staring Annika directly in the eyes.
“We don't have time for this,” Annika said with a huff. “I'll try not to throw you off balance again. But you can't stop to be an asshole every time I mess it up, we have to get to ground zero.”
“Krow,” Failkrow huffed, still annoyed but clearly resigned.
“Thank you,” Annika said. “Now let me get back to work.”
* * *
Professor Cedar paid legendarily well for the security guards that were stationed around the stasis system building. Which meant Tony the Guard was skilled enough not to freeze up. He went into action the moment he saw pokemon solidify. With one hand he grabbed a device consisting single ear piece connected with a single lens that sat over the right eye. With his other he grabbed a pokeball at his waist and called out his charizard. It was a particularly huge example of the species, standing at a full 7 feet tall and weighing 400 pounds of lean muscle. Its tail flame burned so bright and hot that Tim, Kit-Nip, and Bulby could feel it. It wore the same sort of device that Tony had put on and they both reached up and pressed a button on it.
Meanwhile, Bulby stood frozen in terror. The brave things it had done had been for others. The first time it overcame its anxiety had been to protect Craig. It had learned to fight for the same reason. It had evolved to fight machops because it had to protect Seedline.
There was no one who needed Bulby to be strong this time. This time it was the most vulnerable one there. It had no trainer and rarely took part in such large scale raid battles. In the face of such a terrifying situation it did the only thing its mind could make it do – ran to hide.
Kit-Nip had so many possibilities in front of it that it became overwhelmed. It recovered quickly but by the time it did so several of the possible decisions were already made. So it picked the first one that seemed good enough and moved to attack.
“Kyyyyyit!” Kit-Nip turned towards an oncoming swarm of beedrill. It snapped out all of its vines and began to twirl and spin them, stretching them out further and further until they covered the entire width of the street. “NIIIIIP!” It snapped all of its vines in front of it like a whip as it used Grass Pledge. As the vines snapped out they sent out a wall of razor sharp leaves that stretched between two buildings on opposite sides of the street. Tim was still processing and had no idea what to do. Kit-Nip wasn't concerned – Tony was the one it knew would pay attention.
“Flamer!” Tony called out as he noticed what attack Kit-Nip was using. Grass Pledge kicked up a wall of leaves and his charizard knew an attack that was designed to combine. “Use Fire Pledge!”
Flamer let loose a powerful roar as it tilted its head back. It worked its flame glands to build up a huge amount of fuel and then spit it out in a wide spread. The fire roared towards the wall of leaves and exploded on impact. The multitude of explosions caused the wall of death to grow twice as tall and twice as wide. The two pokemon managed to time their attacks just right so the beedrill slammed into the fire field. Some turned away but others powered through to get at their targets.
“Kit-Nip!” It gave Tim a look that proclaimed it expected something from him. Once again Tony understood before Tim. He reached into his pocket, grabbed two more Visual Comm Connectors, and tossed them to Tim and Kit-nip. Kit-Nip grabbed one out of the air and attached it to its own head. Tim followed suit and turned it on, thanking everything he could think of that VCC battle classes were a standard part of field researcher training.
* * *
Every department owned and operated by the NSRC had their own small cluster of buildings close to their area of research. That way researchers doing water studies could live near the ocean rather than be forced to commute through potentially dangerous wilderness to get to work every day.
The clusters contained the main labs and classrooms, apartments and dorms for employees and students, emergency clinic/pokecenter, a security office, and a general store if not several stores and restaurants. They were built to be easily torn down, moved, and re-built just like any of the individual labs scattered throughout the preserve but people often forgot that fact since tearing down an entire department hub was so rare. It hadn't been done in almost two generations.
This meant that it could take a long time to navigate from one department hub to another since the center worked so hard to leave the preserve as untamed as possible. Different people found different ways to deal with the problem such as psychic type pokemon using Teleport, a flying pokemon large enough to ferry them across the sky, or something similar to Craig's “Failkrow, please save my ass” plan for when he got lost. The center did offer aid in the form of pocket-cycles placed in a safety case next to the doorway of every building.
Professor Cedar had planned on using one when she left the central security bunker. She didn't have to thanks to her assistant Melissa planning the things she'd missed. Such as the fact that she didn't have her labcoat, her trainer belt, or her phone and would need them. Porygon-3 Teleported into existence as Professor Cedar reached the outer door, carrying those things via Psychic.
“SECONDARY TRAINER MODE ACTIVE.” The words buzzed mechanically from Porygon's body as Cedar grabbed her things. “PARAMETERS FOR TRAINER: <CEDAR, PROFESSOR> SET.”
“Can you Teleport me near Dangerous Studies?” She slid on her belt first, then her lab coat, and then stuck her phone in one of her safety pockets.
“NEGATIVE,” Porygon replied. “AREA SURROUNDING LOCATION LACKING IN PRE-DEFINED UNIQUE VISUALS REQUIRED FOR TELEPORTATION.”
“Great,” she responded. she reached into one of her coat pockets and pulled out a small black box. She squeezed it and tossed it away from her. It began to twist, unfold, and by the time it hit the ground it was a full-sized moped. With a helmet hanging off the side.
“Follow close,” she told Porygon as she moved to the vehicle and grabbed the helmet. “Move stuff out of my way so I can take a direct path. Turn off environmental protection protocols but still be cautious so you don't cause unnecessary destruction.” She put the helmet on, sat down, and began driving down the paved driveway and onto the packed dirt road that led towards the Dangerous Studies department.
* * *
“How similar do the tools look, you think?” Craig asked Other Annika in an attempt to make her engage. She had insisted he keep her alive as long as possible and with minimal painkillers so there were as few variables as possible. He felt cruel but he had a hard time saying he wouldn't have wanted the same thing. So even though she gave an incomprehensible grunt in response he kept going as if she was coherent. “I'm moving you now. Get ready.”
“O... okay...” she replied finally. She opened her eyes to look down at Other Eevee. It was in the same state it had been before – unconscious, barely breathing, and its body broken. “Try not to jostle Eevee too much?”
“Do what I can. Promise.” Craig gave a nod as he grabbed a thick piece of leather. He put it into Other Annika's mouth and then grabbed a small pen-shaped tool. He placed one hand on her chest and the other on her back. “On three. One. Two. Three.” He gently but firmly pushed the girl forward, mentally blocking out her screams of pain. He kept his hand on her chest to keep her supported as he sliced through the branch where it connected to the stump. He had to be careful not to slide her too far forward as that could result in shock, major blood loss, and a death within a few minutes instead of more than just a few minutes.
He was in his element, not that he was self-aware enough to realize it. His analytical mind was able to block out anything that would interfere with his data collection. Up to and including Other Annika's muffled screams of pain. He only took note of it in order to speak loudly and clearly enough as he described each action for the recording. It wasn't long before he had her back bandaged, her laying on the ground, and Eevee taken off her lap and placed gently on the ground nearby. Then he cut the front of the limb and tossed it away so Other Annika had only a wooden plug rather than a long, heavy branch.
“...Two, three,” he said before shoving her shoulder to the ground while holding her torso in place. The popping noise echoed with a wet sound across the color-drained world and then the only sound was Other Annika breathing raggedly and weeping softly in pain. With the end of the immediate job came the return of Craig's empathy and sense of humanity. Once more any thought of speaking “clearly” went out the window.
“Shit. A'ight, ah'm givin' ya drugs.” He pulled off his gloves and tossed them aside before grabbing his phone. He fiddled with the screen as he brought up his medical app. “Ya wanna help with data collectin' ya gotta be coherent.” He pressed his phone against her skin and the app beeped to announce the task had been done. He watched the young woman's face go swiftly from twisting in unyielding pain to the simple, honest expression of pain from a lethal chest wound.
“Thank you,” Other Annika said once she could make coherent words. “I'd ask if you got good information from that, but...” she took a moment to pause, close her eyes, and take a breath before she continued. “But we already know branches through the chest are lethal. No reason to decimal point that, right?”
“Not true, kiddo,” Craig answered with his accent evening out now that the particularly gruesome jobs were done. “Blood pressure an' bleed out speed ain't matchin' right.” He could hear Tamika in the back of his mind telling him to have a little class and sympathy for the child. Other Annika responded differently.
“Really?” She reached out for his phone. Her face twisted in pain but she continued on as if everything was normal. “Let me see.”
“Here.” Craig scooted closer and held the phone so she could see it without having to move. “An' your body temperature's registerin' as healthy. 98.6 degrees.” He scowled and moved his phone to check his own temperature.
“How?” Other Annika managed to sound confused even through the pain. “This much blood loss...”
“Mine's the same,” Craig pursed his lips as he considered this. “That's gotta be on account'a this place.”
“I appreciate this,” Other Annika said after a moment. “I didn't want to die alone.”
“Feelin' bad I can't do more,” Craig responded. “Maybe if I had some better field medical trainin', or...”
“You'd need a sterile surgical room and you know it.” Other Annika interrupted. “And a few...” She stopped and squinted as she looked at something nearby. Craig blinked and looked in the same direction. What he saw made his eyes go wide.
The color of the bloody gloves was draining out. There was no physical motion other than the color being drained like sauce or liquid out of a squeeze bottle. The gloves didn't twitch, the blood didn't drip, there was no indication of motion in any way but the color. A few moments later the bloody gloves were the same color as everything else – almost gone with a few last bits of goop sticking to the containers.
“Where did the color go?” Craig and Other Annika both said at the same time.
“Maybe....” Other Annika squeezed her eyes shut and took as deep a breath as she could. Blood flowed out from around her wound but she soldiered on. “Not attached to us anymore?”
“Just brings up why we got color,” Craig stated. He shook his head before looking back at Other Annika. “'Fore we get inta that you prolly oughta tell yer story 'fore you can't talk.”
“...Right.” Other Annika closed her eyes again, only this time in order to collect her thoughts as much as she could. “My name is Annika Pine....”
* * *
Tony the Guard – or Tony Baxtor as it said on his ID – was the second son of a well-respected family of martial artists. Along side his siblings and his family's pokemon he learned martial arts, honing his mind and training his body out of a sense of family legacy. He'd been about as good as any of his other family members. One of his uncles joked that he 'more or less met expectations'. Rather than feeling hurt it had given him a sense of accomplishment. His interest wasn't the family legacy but he was proud that he honored that legacy out of respect for his loving, kind parents.
Those skills and his personal interest in poketech engineering got him a job at the NSRC main campus. He found it a good fit and after four years he was offered a promotion to Dangerous Studies security. He jumped at the chance both for the higher paycheck and because it was – somewhat ironically – one of the safest areas of the preserve due to the layers of security. He'd had to deal with the occasional angry pokemon situation and more than once he'd needed to help deal with a sudden equipment malfunction but actual security problems?
It was impossible. First someone would have to get to Dangerous Studies without causing any suspicion. If such a person did manage to get to the main labs they would be noticed immediately. And even if they managed to remain unnoticed it would be impossible to break through digital and physical security measures to actually do anything to any of the equipment.
The word 'impossible' meant very little when looking at a swarm of enraged beedrill moving to viciously attack their targets. Or as some people called them; beedrills.
“Flamer, break up the swarm with Swift!” Flamer roared and Tony scanned the area as the charizard began to move. Through the lens over his eye he could see what Flamer saw. It allowed the trainer to battle even when their pokemon was blocks away.
Which happened almost immediately as Flamer shot through the air. It did as commanded and used Swift, causing a swirl of star-shaped energy blasts to appear around it. It moved so fast it became a blur and in the blink of an eye slammed full-body into the beedrill closest to the center of the swarm without losing momentum. The star-shaped energy blasts became deadly and powerful wake that exploded and broke up the swarm.
“Slam it into another pokemon!” Tony yelled loud enough to be heard through the device's microphone. He could hear Flamer's roar of acknowledgment right before it turned on its side and turned sharply to the right. It disappeared behind a building but Tony could see Flamer dive down and slam the beedrill into a local style machop that was gaining the upper hand on another guard's pokemon.
Meanwhile, Kit-Nip gave a loud yowl and charged down the street. Tim could tell it wasn't running scared. It had a purpose. He looked at the remaining beedrill he'd be leaving to Tony. Tony waved him off.
“I've got this! Go!” He reached for another pokeball and called out a Farfetch'd. Tim nodded and ran after Kit-Nip.
Tim had not come from a family with a legacy of martial arts. He was just a researcher. But his job required a certain amount of battle training – including the use of the VCCs. Which meant he could easily play wingman and make sure nothing impeded Kit-Nip's progress towards... where ever it was going.
“Jump to dodge!” Tim called out as a beedrill turned and dove at them. Kit-Nip reacted immediately. It used four vines to grab Tim and then leapt into the air. It whipped four of its other vines at the third story window of a nearby building. It hooked onto the edges and used its vines like zipcords to shoot through the air just in time to avoid the beedrill's attack.
They continued that way for another block and a half, avoiding both unfrozen pokemon and the security personnel trying to get it under control. More than once they had to avoid falling rubble from broken architecture or sudden explosions, only managing thanks to Tim's keen eyesight and quick wit, Kit-Nip's quasi-future vision, and the fact that it was too stoned out of its mind to realize physics had any opinion on the ways it moved. Several times dust and flame sprayed in their faces. Twice Kit-Nip hit moments where it couldn't avoid an Attack and only kept from fainting thanks to its typing.
After an eternal 3 minutes Kit-Nip yowled at Tim and hoped it hadn't misjudged its Choices. It grabbed him with four vines and whipped its other six vines to stiffen them. It used its vines as pole vaults but unlike its student, Bulby, its body was sleek, agile, and made to spring and pounce. It pounced on a Tri-Island machoke and knocked it to the ground. Without hesitation it leapt off its victim, bounded towards a wall, threw out two vines to break through the glass of a 4th story window, and another two vines to catch a security guard's pidgeotto. Kit-Nip's goal was achieved; it pulled the bird back just in time to keep it from flying into a Thunderbolt without having to stop its own momentum. It used its last two free vines to grab the manectric - a non-native type of pokemon - that used the Attack. With a maneuver it would know better to try if it was sober it managed to pull itself towards the window and use the momentum to smash the manectric against the building wall. It let go of the pidgeotto and used its now free vines to help balance as flew through the window and landed inside.
Tim stumbled when Kit-Nip put him down and had to take a moment to sort himself out. Once his vision stabilized he saw he was in one of the three buildings that housed one of the three Dangerous Studies hub generators. They were huge, cylindrical machines extending fifty feet up and thirty feet underground and they powered every structure within the Dangerous Studies hub. Including the energy barrier and sonic ceiling that was keeping the situation contained. A problem with the generator would cause the barriers to drop and then the problem would be able to spread all across New Star Island.
And right in front of him Tim saw a ghastly, a haunter, and a gengar having the time of their unlives as they floated through and around the generator, causing sparks and breaking wires.
* * *
Melissa Archer, age 35. Graduate of the Vermillion Business Academy, with honors. Associate's degree in Pokemon Physiology. Three years of experience being the Fuschia City Safari Zone event organizer while earning her associate's degree. Two year degree from the New Star Research College, Battle and Tactics track. During that time she also interned at Johto's Goldenrod Pokecenter and collected college hours as a deputy in New Star City while earning her two year degree.
And finally, five years of experience as Professor Cedar's personal assistant.
Why had she been so determined? For moments like this. For moments when someone's greedy, selfish, abusive use of pokemon caused horrendous side effects to everyone around them. Moments like when her brother – working for Team Rocket – had personally helped in the creation and abuse of MewTwo that led to the destruction of so many things and the loss of so many lives. Including his. So she'd made it her personal mission to keep it from ever happening again.
“Dustin,” Melissa called out as she moved towards one of the computer terminals. “How's DS evac and MC Lockdown going?”
“Main Campus is safely locked down,” the wiry officer with shaggy red hair said as they scanned different windows. “Dangerous Studies has a tiny everything's on maybe literal fire problem and I can't get any clear video.”
“Ms. Archer!” Foyer Transport Connector Redds, a blonde cis man with well-combed short hair, turned in his chair to look at Melissa. “Security foyers are active but they're reporting no handshake with the research balls.”
“Thank you,” Melissa responded as she began pressing buttons on her ear piece. “Professor, can you read? Over.”
“I'm here,” Professor Cedar's voice responded. “Your E-Loon got here. Over.”
“The foyers can't get a handshake and we can't get video feed. Over.” Melissa said.
“Gotcha. Clear anyone on-site for specialty ball capture. Cedar out.” There was a tiny burst of static as the professor's communicator switched off.
“Ms. Archer!” Sgt. Bolton called from their spot at one of the barrier defense system terminals. “I'm starting to get power drain! Something's disrupting the energy flow!”
“Set up pokegenerator mode!” Melissa reached down to her trainer belt and grabbed the ball of her partner for decades, Wild Charge the Raichu. “Wild Charge, barrier supplement. You have the energy?”
“Raiiiii,” it responded before turning and bounding towards the comm chief. It took less than a minute to connect cords from Wild Charge to the computer terminal and then the electric rodent was tensing its body to create a charge.
“Doing the trick, ma'am,” Sgt. Bolton said as they continued to type and move their cursor about. “Sonic ceilings aren't stable, probably due to the sheer volume of stuff going on. Extending it three stories up to give them all some room.”
“Two stories, just in case there's further power drain,” Melissa commanded before turning to another terminal. “Underground, what's the word on those onix?”
“They're more than a mile under,” Security Professor Gordon responded. “I can't get any deeper than that without a risk of pissing off wild ground pokemon.”
“I really, really need to know what in the hellscapes is happening out there,” Melissa grumbled under her breath. It wasn't the first time that night, and it wouldn't be the last.
* * *
“...Then I was here,” Other Annika finished. She took a soft breath and let her eyes remain closed for several moments since she didn't need to say more.
“So yer reality did get ate,” Craig pursed his lips as he made a note by writing on a blank holo-screen projected from his phone. “All 'cept you.”
“Seems like,” Other Annika said softly. She took another slow breath and then opened her eyes to look at Craig. “Now you.”
“Huh?” Craig blinked in surprise and adjusted his glasses. Other Annika looked at him expectantly.
“Come on,” Other Annika said, her voice a bit wobbly. “Promise I'll take your secrets to the grave.” She smiled weakly which caused Craig to laugh. She laughed in response and then tensed in pain. “It hurts to laugh.”
“Sorry,” Craig gave her a sympathetic smile. “Just didn't expect you to ask. Gimme a tick, kay?”
She nodded and closed her eyes. It was easier than keeping them open. She could just... No. No she couldn't. No matter how clouded her mind was. She tried to think of something to focus on and then felt a surge of panic. Where was....?
“Eevee,” she said as she began to flail in search. “Where's Eevee? It's scared of the dark and...”
“Right here,” Craig placed one hand on her shoulder to keep her down. With his other he gently grabbed Eevee's body – only clinging to life by the barest of threads – and placed it close enough that Annika could rest her hand on an uninjured spot. He held her down gently but firmly until he was certain she'd calmed. “It's bein' just as stubborn as you.”
“Of course it is,” she murmured. She took several shallow breaths before looking at Craig again. “So?”
“Ain't that interestin',” Craig responded as he moved to sit back against the tree stump. “Grandparents were some'a the first settlers'a Treeton, out on Traverse Island. Mom was a teacher, dad was a mechanic, an' I ran 'round pokin' everything with a stick. I got a two year scholarship for research studies on account'a how I'm a 'Treeton native' or whatever, an' now I'm here.”
“Not summary data collection.” Other Annika started. She stopped talking for a moment and Craig only knew she was alive because of the shallow breaths she took. She eventually licked her lips and continued speaking. “I want to hear what I'm going to miss.”
“...Oh.” Craig had once again gotten so caught up in data and research that he'd forgotten the very important – very human – sources of that data. And he knew that if Other Annika deserved anything it was to hear about life that could exist without all the reality changing bullshit.
So he told her. He told her about growing up in Treeton, a dense forest valley at the base of the Traverse Mountains. How they could only go into Traverse Town about once a month which meant he had to make clothes last. How that caused him to wear out shoes quickly so he'd often run around barefoot and that's how his feet became – as his friends like to call them – rock/ground type.
And he watched her body shiver as she tried not to go into shock.
He told her about his first day showing up at the Main Campus with nothing but his suitcase, his laptop case, and his letter telling him his building and dorm number. His accent was so thick he'd had to ask different people before he finally lucked out and ran into someone who'd grown up in Traverse Town. How he'd eventually learned to even out his accent and now it was a running joke between him and his older friends.
Other Annika's breaths grew ever more shallow.
He told her about meeting Tamika and becoming close friends. How he'd met her when she'd noticed his equipment, asked if he had been doing anything, and when he said he wasn't she'd grabbed his hand and dragged him out to a training area. How he'd been drawn in by her forceful personality but became her friend because of their shared interests.
Their love of analyzing pokemon battle information to find unique attack combinations. Their joy when helping pokemon achieve their personal best. Times they'd gone surfing on the back of Sugar, times they'd camped in the wilds because Failkrow didn't want to help them find their way back home, times they'd done agricultural work to help Kit-Nip in repayment for helping Bulby. How he found it hilarious that every time Tamika had a chance to challenge Suplex Superior at the battle dome something would come up that kept it from happening. And how he never told her that because he found her really adorable when she got annoyed about that sort of thing.
Other Annika's eyes and extremities began to twitch as she slid ever closer to death.
He told her about moments in his day to day life. About the time he noticed a flaw in his experiments premise the night before it was due to be turned in and he had to stay up all night making changes. His fifteenth birthday when his parents surprised him by showing up at Main Campus to visit and how great it was since they'd checked ahead with his friends and teachers first so they could schedule their own things while Craig continued his own work. About his work as a professional research assistant and how it was mostly data input. How he'd almost missed a pre-planned event for his 17th birthday because he'd been doing field studies in the Seaside department hub and had become fascinated with some of the unique water type pokemon. And he'd forgotten his smartphone so no one could call him. How he was only saved because Tamika realized what had likely happened and rode on Sugar to grab him.
He watched as she began taking shallow breaths every few seconds and kept talking. Telling her about nights spent staring at stars and smoking Kit-Nip bundles with Bulby and Tamika. Times he'd had to chase Failkrow through dorm hallways because it had stolen his pants for shits and giggles. His favorite foods and amusing ViewTube videos he thought about. He kept talking as he watched her breathing slow further, only pausing when the next breath was uncertain and continuing if she breathed again. Until finally he was certain that she would never take another breath.
“...Now what?” Craig looked at his surroundings and saw the same thing he'd seen so far – color drained forest. He took a deep breath and stared off into space as he tried to process any of what had just happened. He was only drawn from his reverie by the sound of his equipment beeping. He looked back to Other Annika and Eevee and saw them both beginning to glow and shimmer. He adjusted his glasses and then checked the scans.
“...Evolution and eeveelution energy,” he muttered to himself. He stood up and stepped away from the bodies in order to get as much of them in frame as possible.
Craig watched as the color began draining from Other Annika and Eevee. It wasn't like the bloody gloves – they'd just lost their color. It was more like the murkrows and haunchkrows that had shown up for Vengeance from Beyond. The drained color flowed into the glowing and shimmering light that enveloped both their bodies. Once their color matched the color of the forest around them the shimmering and glowing light began to move like a puddle of ooze. The slime covering Other Annika slid down from her body, shuffled several 'steps' in different directions, and then began to flow towards the tree stump.
The ooze enveloped the stump and began to wriggle, writhe, and slide about to create a Gordian knot of colors that had been drained from Other Annika. The motion stopped as if the knot was being tied and then there was an explosion of light so bright Craig had to close his eyes.
“Ph... phantump?” The tree stump floated into the air, supported by a legless ghost body made of shadow. Eyes and a mouth like a jack-o-lantern opened on the trunk to form the ghost's head. It blinked then attempted to move. It flipped and spun around as it attempted to get used to its top-heavy body for about a minute.
Once it had its body under control it floated to Craig. It floated up and down, circling him and inspecting him with confusion.
“Howdy, Phantump,” he said with a gentle smile. “Ah'm Craig. Do you remember me?”
“Phantump?” It continued inspecting him for a few more seconds before floating up to meet his eyes. It blinked slowly and he saw the slightest bit of awareness in its eyes before he saw nothing but the shadowy void within its eye holes.
It turned and floated down to Eevee's body, which still had the colored ooze on it. Craig watched as it began to wrap around the body the same way as it had covered the tree stump. He looked down at his phone and saw that the unique activity still registered as normal eeveelution radiation the same way as if it were becoming a jolteon or leafeon. It continued to register as normal as the color became a bright light and then there was the pokemon that was once Eevee. It looked exactly like the weird eeveelution he'd seen drawn on the picture he'd found in the town that didn't exist.
“Hauuuuunnnt?” It stood to its feet and blinked as its eyes opened. It looked as confused as Phantump had looked but it got its bearings much more quickly. It stepped to the color-drained body of Other Annika and sniffed it. It pressed its nose against the shoulder and nudged the corpse. When it was certain the body wouldn't respond it looked up and around. “Haunteon?”
“Howdy,” Craig said again, this time squatting down to meet Haunteon's eyes. “Don't think we met. Ah'm Craig. I been recordin' this.”
“Haunteon,” it responded with a nod. It turned and looked at Phantump, who floated a few feet away and watched with curiosity. Haunteon walked towards it and pressed its nose against Phantump's shadowy tail. Phantump giggled and bounced through the air away from them. Haunteon looked back at Craig and gave a nod and a smile before turning and bounding off after Phantump. Craig stood and watched in silence as the two bounced and played tag with each other until they had faded from his sight.
“Research subjects Pine, Annika an' Eevee – from Devoured Reality 1 - are declared officially deceased,” Craig spoke for the recording. “Location, color-drained world. Time a' death, yer guess' good as mine.” He watched as – somehow unsurprisingly – Other Annika's body faded away completely. “End status, a brand new phantump an' a haunteon, seemin'ly a unique eevelution.” He took a deep breath and looked off into space for a second long eternity before speaking again. “Research file classification,” he paused. He took another deep breath before speaking again. “Not viable for further collection.”
He poked at his phone to stop recording and name the file. He had no signal and no reason to presume it would be useful but out of reflex he made a backup and sent it to the cloud.
Once that was done he started a new recording file, put his phone in its protective pocket, slid his hands into his coat side pockets, and began walking.