Chapter 7

Diary of Mysteries

Cinnabar Island-

            Blue and Red walked along the mountain trail outside the huge volcano on Cinnabar Island.  Always keeping the remains in their sight, it was easy to tell which direction they needed to go. Blue was a little upset that Red had accepted Blaine’s deal so easily. 

            “We should have pressed him for more information,” she kept saying.  “You should have just called Lance, or kept the threat of it up.  Now we have to go on this little side adventure just so you can fight a Gym Leader directly.  A little selfish, don’t you think?”

            Red kept trudging on in front of her.  The path was rocky and went up and down as it snaked its way around the volcano.  Few vegetation grew up this high, but there was still some grass and ferns here and there.  Today, the volcano was “sleeping,” and no smoke was in the sky.  If the path was straight, they’d be at Blaine’s ruined lab already.  Alas, it wasn’t. 

            “It might be a little selfish,” replied Red.  “But if we find anything especially important, I can still pick up the phone whenever I want.”

            Blue stopped.  “What’s stopping me from picking up the phone right now?”

            Red turned around with a pleading look in his eye.  “Come on, Blue, Lance is going to get the information he wants about the Phantom sooner or later. This gives me a chance to get what I want, too!”  He turned around and had to climb over a little rocky bump. 

            Blue mumbled behind him.  “You’re just taking advantage of the situation.”  She got on top of the rock, and Red helped her down.

            “If I’m not supposed to take advantage, then what’s an advantage for?” he smiled. 

            Blue pushed off the little quip and stared ahead and sighed in relief.  The lab loomed just ahead on an expanse of flat land. As they approached, they could still make out a few standing walls, and what once must have been a large and magnificent lab was just a pile of debris.  Pieces of rock and wood and electronic parts were scattered everywhere on the ground while they were making their final approach.  Blue looked up the volcano rising above the lab, other shiny parts of metal, machines, and building had somehow lodged themselves in the mountainside higher up. 

            It was evening, and Gym gave off a faint glow from the lights coming from Blaine’s personal apartment.  Far below the gentle slope of the volcano, the lights of the resort town dotted its way around the beach.  Blue hoped Tony and Golduck were having more fun than they were.

            The debris piles became more frequent as they approached the ruined building.  Finally, Blue could make out the foundations of a building.  She rubbed her temples as she looked at what remained of Blaine’s old lab.  How are we going to get through all of this to get to an underground bunker?  The whole building, outside of a few walls that withstood the natural gas explosion, was a heaping pile of mess.  Splintery wood, smashed machinery, and twisted metal had all piled up on top of itself.  Red tried to look through the big pile to try and find some door leading to a lower level, but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack using only your eyes.

            “It looks like we’re going to need our Pokémon to help us clean the mess,” Blue said.  She took out Nidorina’s Poke-ball, and then looked at the pile of smashed building again.  She took out the rest of her Poke-balls, too.  “All of them.”

            It was getting dark, but thankfully all of the Pokémon made the chore of getting rid of the debris easier.  Pidgeotto and Butterfree made piles of wood that Pikachu sparked on fire to make some light.  Venusaur used its long vines to move heavier debris, and toss them aside.  Machoke carried off some heavier pieces of building or broken machinery, while Scyther sliced up some debris for smaller Pokémon like Wartortle and Nidorina to carry off, along with Red and Blue.

            Snorlax worked a little bit lazier.  At first all it wanted to do was sleep.  Eventually, it must have gotten hungry, Blue deduced, because it slowly rumbled on over to the pile and tried to put some of the ruins in its mouth.  Once Snorlax decided it was inedible, the gigantic fat Pokémon tossed the trash an impressive distance. 

            Blue’s little Poliwag even contributed.  Even with a lack of arms, it could still run around from Pokémon to Pokémon keeping them cool with little sprinkles of water. 

            “Don’t work too hard, guys!” Blue encouraged.  Even at night the temperature on Cinnabar Island was hot and humid.  “Make sure you stay, cool.  If you start to get dizzy just take a break!”

            Snorlax must have decided that it now had permission to lay down and take a nap.  Blue face palmed and recalled the lazy giant back into its ball. Blue turned around to see Red struggling with a big piece of lumber before Machoke came and easily took the big plank from its own Trainer.

            Red wiped some sweat off of his forehead.  “I remember the day this lab got destroyed.  It was all over the news.  They said it exploded from a natural gas explosion.  None of this debris looks like it was burned, though.  It’s kinda weird.”

            Blue nodded in agreement.  She looked over and saw Nidorina wondering around aimlessly.  I thought she was with Wartortle, Blue thought.  She smiled when Poliwag walked up to its team mate, and showered it with a little mist.  Her motherly smile turned to a shocking gasp when Nidorina punched at Poliwag and sent the little tadpole Pokémon flying back into a pile of drywall.

            “Nidorina! What’s the matter with you?” She had known her partner since she was a little girl.  This was completely out of character for her.  She heard a little cry coming up beside her.  She was confused as she saw another Nidorina at her feet.  “What the…”  She looked back up at Poliwag, who was being chewed on now by the Nidorina who had attacked it. 

            By this time, Red had come to see what all the commotion was about.  “Why do you have two Nidorinas?” he asked stupidly.  Blue couldn’t answer.  To Poliwag’s dismay, the other Nidorina was now slobbering all over the little tadpole while everyone looked around dumbfounded.  “Wait a second,” Red said curiously.  “Blue! Take out your Pokedex and point it at that other Nidorina!”

            Blue didn’t understand, but what else was she going to do?  Her Pokedex dinged as it found a surprising entry.  “Ditto,” she read aloud.  “This Pokémon is made almost entirely out of genetic material.  It can easily imitate other Pokémon, human, or inanimate object it sees as a means for hunting for prey, or hiding from predators.”

            Nidorina let out a little growl as it bounded over towards the imposter, and hit Ditto away from Poliwag with a Tackle attack.  Poliwag quickly got up, angry and covered in slimy pink slobber. 

            “Good job, Nidorina!” Blue coached.  “Now hit it again!” Nidorina was just about to take off, when Poliwag let out a little “Poli!”  Nidorina stopped and looked at its disgraced little friend.  They exchanged some Pokémon speech, and Poliwag looked at Blue and slammed its little tale on the ground. 

            “Blue, I think Poliwag wants to take this fight,” Red told her.  Blue looked at Ditto, who was still in Nidorina’s form shaking off the hit.  Then she nodded to give little Poliwag the OK.

            She never really used little Poliwag in the fight.  It was more like her little baby, cute to look at and helpful sometimes, but she didn’t really like using it in battle aside from its ability to use the Hypnosis technique.

Poliwag cutely slapped its tail on the ground again near the real Nidorina, who backed off.  By now, Red’s and Blue’s other Pokémon had gathered around to watch. 

            The Ditto found its would-be-prey again, and it started walking cautiously towards it.  It knew all the other Pokémon were around watching, but it still thought that if it was slow and sneaky, it might just have its tasty Poli-snack. 

            “Poliwag! Don’t let it get close again! Use Bubble-beam!” The little tadpole shot out a stream of glowing blue bubbles that struck the fake Nidorina.  Ditto wasn’t playing around anymore, it ran towards Poliwag.  The other Pokémon tensed up, ready to help at a moments noticed as Blue’s tadpole was trembling.  “Poliwag, just use Hypnosis!” Blue cried out desperately.   Ditto was getting closer, it opened its jaws and Blue could see the inside of its mouth was nothing but a pink mass of goo.  Poliwag was too scared to do anything.  Why now? Thought Blue.  She was about to turn to Nidorina to help.

            Suddenly Poliwag began to glow with a bright light, and it grew twice its size.  The fake Nidorina skidded to a stop and cocked its head, confused.  In Poliwag’s place now stood a Pokémon with no tadpole tail, but two arms that seemed to be covered with gloves.  Realizing that its snack may not be so easy to consume, the fake Nidorina turned and looked at Pidgeotto, who was perched nearby on a broken wall.  Before Ditto could change into the bird Pokémon, a gloved hand shot out and grabbed the imposter Pokemon’s leg. 

            Blue, Pokedex still out, identified her evolved Pokémon as Poliwhirl.  Blue smiled.  “Don’t let it get away!”

            However, the Nidorina had already begun to change into a pink ooze.  Poliwhirl, insulted by being chewed on, bombarded the shape-shifting mass with a more powerful evolved Bubblebeam attack.  Eventually, a strange clanking sound was heard as Poliwhirl was now stomping Ditto (whose true form was now revealed) into the dirt.  Red laughed as it looked like someone who had stepped in a big wad of bubble-gum. 

            “Hang on, Poliwhirl!” yelled Blue.  She pulled out her last blank Poke-ball she had received from Professor Oak. “This little guy could come in handy!”  The Poke-ball landed right on the pink glob with a squish.  The red light that dematerialized Ditto into the Poke-ball even looked like it was oozing its way inside. The ball wobbled once, then dinged. 

            Blue smiled as Ditto’s name appeared under her “Pokémon Party” screen on her Pokedex.  She went over to pick up the Poke-ball, but as she approached, her feet made a sound like she was walking on a hollow, metal floor.  “What’s this?” she knelt down and cleared some dust away.  She had found a trap door.  She struggled to open it, and eventually tired herself out. 

            Red recalled all of his Pokémon except for Machoke, whom he instructed to help open the door.  Even the muscular Fighting-type Pokémon had difficulty with opening the hatch, but eventually, it succeeded. 

            Blue recalled all of her Pokémon except for Poliwhirl (who she decided should be rewarded with its impressive performance).  As soon as the trapdoor opened, lights came on automatically from below, and the Trainers descended down into what had to be the hidden bunker.  Suddenly, Blue realized she had forgotten something. 

            “Poliwhirl, can you go back up and bring me Ditto’s Poke-ball?” The evolved Pokémon reluctantly climbed back up the stairs, and brought Ditto’s ball back to Blue with its arms stretched out, leaning back.  Blue laughed.  “I can understand why you don’t want to be near it.”  She put the ball into her bag. 

            She turned around.  Red had already made his way back to a giant computer screen at the far end of the bunker. The room itself was relatively small in relation to the rest of the destroyed lab.

            The stairs led in from a hatch in the corner, and on the far side of the room was the big computer screen and desk that Red was sitting at, gathering every last scrap of paper.

 It was something else that caught Blue’s eye. Beside the stairs, at the back of the bunker, was a big glass container.  Inside the container were old wires, and next to the container were big chains coming out of the floor.  She heard a beeping noise and turned towards the computer screen that Red had just turned on. 

The picture was familiar to Blue.  “I think I’ve seen that before!”  It was a greyish-green stone, with a little bone inside of it. She rummaged through her back and pulled out the Moon Stone that Lance had given her back when they had first met in Mt. Moon. 

“I guess this kinda makes sense,” said Red as he flipped through the papers he organized.  He looked at Blue.  “You may want to sit down while I read this to you.  I put these papers in order by date. Blaine wrote them, he’s signed every page with his name and date. Ready?”  Blue nodded.

He began:  “They start two years ago.  ‘July 5: I am approached personally by the leader of an organization called ‘Team Rocket.’ He says he has enough funds to support my research of Pokémon mythology.  I show him my works on reviving Pokémon from fossils.  He said he took great interest, then he left.  I know I’m a great scientist, but still he’s quite a strange fellow.’

“‘July 8: The Team Rocket leader came back with his “Investor” (who brought a lot of cash).  The Leader said he needs my help reviving a legendary Pokémon, and the guy with the money has money.  Was there ever an easier decision?  Leaving for Mt. Moon tomorrow!’”

“‘August 2: The expedition was a success, though I still don’t know why it had to be a secret… The fossil we found is beautiful: a little bone that seems to be a vertebrae.  It’s embedded completely in a Moon Stone, but still I should be able to extract the required DNA.  What excellent condition it was preserved in.’ There’s a sketch right here.  Look, Blue.”  He showed her a drawing that looked just like the image on the computer screen.

“Big time delay, now.  ‘February 15: Its working!  The cells are growing and multiplying inside the Womb Chamber.  I can make out a long, tail, and cute eyes.  At this rate, it will be ready for removal in a few weeks!’

“‘March 7: Success! Even this is not what I expected Mew to look like, I’m sure we can safely say that this was an incredible scientific achievement. I call the new Pokémon ‘Mewtwo.’ ’

“‘March 8: Team Rocket’s Leader came to see Mewtwo.  He and some of his men have taken over my lab.  I can hear Mewtwo’s cries of pain. They have reassigned me to a different project.  Am I working for them now?’

“March 12: My first day on the new project… I am having second thoughts.  They have a human in chains, and they’re performing horrible Psychic experiments on the test subject.  I can’t do this anymore.  I have to save them.  I have to save this person and Mewtwo.’

“March 20: Mewtwo is not good enough for him.  He wants another.  Is this what I have become?  Creating life whose sole purpose is to be controlled by somebody else?  Most Pokémon choose to be with their Trainers.  Mewtwo is a captive.  Soon, I will free them both.  Pokémon and human.’ ”

Silence.  Then Blue spoke up.  “He was part of Team Rocket,” she said under her breath in shock.  “He helped them… He cloned a Pokémon that they tortured, not to mention the human.”

“Was,” replied Red, still looking at the journal papers.  “And he’s not proud of it apparently.  The person that was held in chains, who was experimented on: do you think it’s the Phantom?”

Blue shook off her shock and began to think again.  “That explains the Psychic powers,” she said.  “And why he always shows up to stop Team Rocket!  We should call Lance.”

Red shook his head.  “I think we should talk to Blaine, first.  The reason he didn’t come get these himself is because he didn’t want to be suspected.  I think he’s ashamed at what he did, and he wants it to go away.”

Blue reluctantly agreed.  “I hope this isn’t you wanting to just have your Gym Battle.”

“Partially,” said Red, a faint smile coming on to his face. 

It was already morning when they left the bunker where they slept that night.  The journey back to the Gym was not long.  Both Trainers walked in silence, contemplating the new information.  As if Blaine knew that the two Trainers were good for their word, he was seen standing high up in the window of his apartment.  A crowd had already begun to gather at the main entrance.

“I guess the Gym match was advertised on the radio this morning or something,” said Blue.  Red smiled and kept walking towards a door around the building labeled “challenger’s entrance.”

Suddenly, his phone rang.  Red answered, listened, and then hung up. 

“What was it?” asked Blue.

“It was Blaine,” said Red.  “He says good luck for my match, and that he will explain everything afterword, win or lose.”

We better get all the answers, Blue thought.  Who is the Phantom, and where in the world is Mewtwo?

Team Rocket HQ, Johto-

            Sylvester walked down the stairs into Team Rocket’s Johto base of operations.  How was he going to move forward with this?  His leader had abandoned them.  No, he’ll be back.  He’s just laying low for a while. 

            The chief scientist working at the Johto HQ greeted him almost immediately. 

            “Where’s the Boss?” he asked as they walked back into the executive office.  Other Rockets who were on the Johto mission were looking around in confusion.  Sylvester knew what they were saying.

            “Why isn’t the Boss here?”

            “Did the Elite Four really capture him?”

            “Did he never make it out of the tower?”

            Before Sylvester entered through the door into his office, he turned to the small crowd of Rockets stationed here.  His mentor’s words still rang in his head as he stared at the unknowing faces of his men.  I’m disbanding Team Rocket…  No, it couldn’t be.  Their leader, so full of passion and charisma, was not going away forever.  He must have said that to get that slimy banker off of our case.  He was in charge now. 

            “Our leader is not coming back for a while,” he said to the other Rockets.  He scanned their faces.  Many were inexperienced Pokémon Trainers that Team Rocket could never really afford to prepare with the banker’s limited funds.  Sylvester felt like an older brother to them.  These were the Rockets that the Boss had sent with Sylvester on their mission to Johto to keep them safe… to keep the most promising of Team Rocket’s infantry away to fight another day.  A day when our leader returns to us.  It’s up to me to continue his work while he’s gone.

            He continued his speech.  “There was a reason he didn’t let us go to Saffron City with him.  He always knew there was a possibility that we wouldn’t succeed, so he put these precautions in place for us to survive the battle and win the war.”  Sylvester felt the eyes on him:  the scientists who excelled at Pokémon lore; the Rocket grunts who had yet to reach their full potential.  “Well, we lost in Saffron.  We lost all of our allies in the Kanto region, and I stand here today broken.  I can’t pay you anymore to be here.” Some of the scientists seemed upset by that, but he knew that most of these Rocket grunts had grown up in the streets. They’ve lived with nothing before. 

            Sylvester pointed at R imprinted in the glass of the executive office.  “I for one am not going to lack a lack of money stop me from achieving my potential, from achieving our Leader’s goals.  I’m fighting for this!  This is what brought me in when I was hungry and lost with no place to go.”  He jabbed at the R again.  The disappointed looks were melting away from the gathered Rocket’s faces.  “This is my family, and if our investor won’t give us the means to continue our destiny, then we’re just going to have to take it.”

            One grunt stepped forward and punched his fist towards the ceiling.  He had them now. Their Leader was on hiatus for now, but Team Rocket would continue.   One of the scientists stepped forward.  “So what’s the plan now?” he asked.

            “We continue with the reason that our Boss sent us here,” Sylvester began.  “We lay low, and when we finally find what we came here for, we strike.  We have to learn from Saffron City.  We have to make ourselves known after we get what we seek. I promise you all, brothers and sisters, we will make the Boss so proud when he finally comes back to us.”  Rowdy cheers followed his speech before Sylvester put his hand up and silenced them.  “Now, chief scientist, status report.” 

            The short head of scientists stepped forward.  “It’s the same as before you left, sir. The information we’ve gathered and analyzed suggests that the target we seek is sleeping under the Whirl Islands, but we haven’t located the means to awaken or control it, yet.  Also, there’s other news.”  Sylvester perked up his ears.  “The citizens here are becoming more and more united, it may not be so easy to sweep in and control them the longer it takes us to capture the target.”

            This was news to Sylvester.  The citizens of Johto were poor, backwards, and had extreme distrust of anyone who lived outside of their own respective cities.  “What do we think is changing the population’s underlying culture?”

            The chief scientist looked at his paper and adjusted his glasses.  “They call themselves the Church of Alph.”