“Damn it.” Brass grumbled in the darkness. A slapping sound followed and repeated a few times. “The battery died…”

“I think that nurse gave you a crappy flashlight.” Galvin grinned.

“Or bad batteries.” Steel chirped.

“Well, it’s not like it matters anyway, if we keep going straight we’ll reach the stairs at the end.” Brass sighed, pressing his hand against the cold wall to guide himself along.

“Or we’ll crash into a wall.” The boys glanced back at their female companion in the darkness, who grinned. She was so weird sometimes…

“Someone needs to rethink their staffing.” Galvin suddenly stated as he walked in a puddle. Cringing, he shook his wet pants leg around, flicking droplets on Steel and Brass.

“Who?”

“Who else? The Saffron City Guard Commission, they won’t let anyone pass through the city because they’re thirsty that just forces us trainers to use these dark and unlit tunnels.”

“Yeah, that whole ‘I’m thirsty so you can’t pass’ thing is stupid…”

“How can they think that’s a valid excuse?”

“Hey guys, I think I see the exit!” the lighting was peeking in was a faint orange, meaning a sunset was approaching. Steel picked up the pace and was the first to burst through the Underground Path’s door. She looked around her and grinned finding herself standing on a hilltop before Caledon City. Steel took a few steps back, just as Galvin and Brass made it out, and then took off running, she curled herself into a ball and rolled down the hill.

Unfortunately her bag clicked open and her belongings, ranging from stationary to clothes, and all sorts of trainer supplies flew into the air and came crashing down all around her. She didn’t seem to mind although as she burst into laughter. The boys walked down the hill as fast as they could to her side, Galvin groaned at the mess she made, one bottle of potion had cracked open on impact and was staining her pair of shorts along with a few pages of stationary. Brass began to collect items with the help of Lanna and returned them to Steel who ceased her giggles as Galvin lectured her about how stupid that stunt was.

“I wonder if my letter got to him yet…” she said out of the blue.

“Woman! Focus!” Galvin snapped.

“I am jeez!” Brass shook his head at the two as he took Lanna into his arms. With a sigh he made his way to the city. Galvin took note of this, shoved Steel’s belongings into her bag and dragged her off while still lecturing her.

She was silently hoping Simon’s own friends weren’t as pushy as her own.

Steel stared at the Pokémon Center washing machine bored. She squinted her eyes. Come one seriously. How long does it take to wash some clothes? Stupid machine. Taking its sweet time. She glanced to the count down on it and made a grunt of annoyance. It said five minutes left ten minutes ago, was this thing so bad it couldn’t even predict time right?

What a hunk of junk!

She reentered the main room of the center to find that her two friends had disappeared. But at least they left her a note, in the care of Nurse Joy, who was currently reaching for her pen that fell under the desk making it look like she wasn’t there at all.

Steel on the other hand frowned. She got ditched by everyone. Even the nurse.

Well, that’s all find and dandy. Nope. No problem at all. This was the big city after all (next to Saffron City) so why not go out and enjoy the sights. Steel marched out of the center proudly, hands on her hips and strutting as she went. When the doors swished close Nurse Joy emerged from under her desk with at least ten pens in hand, she shot the pen filled fist into the air and cheered. The young nurse looked around and sighed. Empty as usual…

All the trainers ever did was go to the city and never spared her a glance.

How depressing…

Galvin had to admit the city was good looking at night, buildings and signs lit up in neon. A building like the Gym was giving off a bright vibrant rainbow glow and a sign situated next to the diner said CASINO blinking in red and blue with yellow lights made the illusion of a gold coin flipping.

Normally Galvin would have cared less about casinos but it was a Rune grunt sneaking around that got his attention. The grunt dived into the alleyway between the buildings, he looked left and right as he moved across the wall, touching and feeling for something. His hand bumped the object and he turned it, a door opened and he entered the building.

Curiously and with Scyther’s pokeball in hand, Galvin approached the door and entered the building. Interestingly he found himself in the casino, or assumed he was judging by the slot machine across the room. The grunt glanced around, he slowly lifted up the poster relating to some concert (who really cared anyway) and poked at the… wall? Galvin nearly screamed as hole in the wall opened up, retracted a shelf containing prizes to reveal a secret passage way in the floor tiles.

He would have to make his move now. He sent out Scyther and pointed to the grunt.

“SCYTHER!” the Pokémon charged the man, tacking him to the ground and placed a scythe arm to his neck.

“What the?!”

“Mind explaining what’s going on here?” Galvin approached the man, motioning to the trap door then placed his hands in his pockets.

“Nothing is going on you twat!” he raised a brow.

“I don’t call a hole in the ground, which was opened by a rather cautious man, nothing.” Galvin nodded to his pokémon, which began to mercilessly beat up the man. With the man out cold Galvin took his uniform and returned his Pokémon to its pokeball. He pulled the bill of the hat over his eyes as he climbed down the stairs.

The secret base had to be ten degrees colder than the casino above. The grey and white linoleum tiles reflected his cautious look as he went, he was in the lion’s den now but not a Rune could be found. Were they sent off on some sort of mission? Galvin made it a few floors down when he noticed a sign pointing to the left and down a long hallway.

‘Conference Room.’

This seemed interesting; maybe a conference was going on. If so he could get a good load of information to report to the police, which they seemed desperate for now days. Not that anyone could blame them for, with one hideous crime after another any form of information was good and it would put him to ease if the Runes were locked away.

Galvin walked a little faster now, approaching the doorway the door opened up for him. Wait, opened up? He came to a dead halt and pretended to act natural, at least the best he could. After a few moments passed and no one exited the room he took cautious steps towards it. Peering in through the crack his suspicions were proven correct. A meeting was occurring.

“How many trainers did you collect from the Rock Tunnel center despite your failure?” a monotone voice questioned.

“About twenty.” He could recognize it as the woman from the pokemon center nearly a day or two ago.

“A good sum…” the monotone voice returned. Galvin squinted harder to see the owner. Just barely he saw her, a woman with red hair that she flicked back as she was staring a packet of paper. “Tell me, how are the Cubones doing?”

“Progress is slow Madam Mewtwo.”

Mewtwo? Steel mentioned Mewtwo could it be that she was referring to this woman? She met the Rune leader face to face? And it was this very same woman that attacked her?

“Disappointing, dispose of them, they’re useless if they can’t work fast.” Few of the grunts gasped while those higher up on the scale didn’t even blink at the implication of murdering baby Pokémon. “We’ll need a new breed to progress.”

“What about the trainers…?”

“Search them for badges, if they have four or more keep them if they have less dispose of them as well, living and dead. I have no need for a weak trainer.”

“B-but didn’t you say it varies person to person…? Maybe one of them can fuse with a Cubone!”

“Do not tell me you have gone soft on one of those little rats.”

“O-of course not!”

“Then you’ll have no problem killing them, I’ll make sure to assign you the job.” Were… were they really performing such experiments to create abominations? Half Pokémon half human…? And if both trainer and Pokémon didn’t meet a certain requirement they would be slaughtered?

This couldn’t be real… this was beyond insane!

Or is it? Or is it the perfect truth, humans once lived like that… a haunting laugh follow. Galvin flinched. That was the voice of Mewtwo. She was in his head now?! I suppose now that you know you want to tell the police, don’t you? Oh good luck with that, maybe you will make the next great test subject…

Galvin jumped up to his feet. No way in hell was he going to be anyone’s test subject!

“Ah… M-madam Mewtwo where are you going…?”

“Is the meeting over?”

“No, I have some business to attend to.” A clack of boots echoed behind Galvin as he ran the clacking of boots stopped but he refused to look behind himself. He was almost to the stairs, almost free and a smile crossed his fearful face when he found himself choking and lifted into the air. He was pulled backwards by an unseen force, moving at such speeds that everything was a blur until he came to an abrupt stop in someone’s cold hands that proceeded to wrap around his neck. He could feel himself trembling as he tried in vain to pull the chilling hand away from his throat.

“Afraid little boy?”

“H-hardly!”

“Are you cold? Is that why you tremble? Or is it anticipation for an experiment and that I chose you personally?”

“As if I’ll be some experiment for you!”

“You don’t really have a choice.” The woman smirked as Galvin was suddenly pelted with a borage of psychic waved, burning holes through the Rune uniform. She dropped the boy and flicked off his hat, grabbing Galvin by the chin she made him look up to her. Despite her shock she did not show it.

“An Oak huh? As a hostage you could bring in a huge sum of money from that grandfather of yours…”

“Don’t drag my family into this you twisted freak!” Mewtwo chuckled, throwing Galvin into the wall with a swing of her arm.

“Am I really twisted for trying to return what humans once had? Maybe my reasons why are but it’s all a part of what make us.” She extended a hand to Galvin. “Even if we got the ransom I’m not letting you get away that easily, so, make a decision, would you like to be experimented on dead or alive?” Scyther had enough of this woman harassing his master and friends. This was the woman. The one from the boat, he knew this for sure! Scyther burst from his pokeball, ready to attack this woman again.

“You. So you are the trainer of this meddlesome bug from the S.S. Anne?”

“You’ve meet my Scyther before?”

“Stole my kill. Some stupid girl who decided to barge into the captain’s room like an idiot hero.”

“So you we’re the one that attacked Steel!” the name Steel made the woman’s eye’s wide before quickly become stoic as usual.

“Steel you say…” she chuckled lightly, lifting Galvin and the Scyther up telepathically. “Tell her Hilda is waiting.”

“W-what?!” before she was able to explain her words, not like she would of anyway, Galvin and his pokémon vanished and reappeared in the city’s hospital. Galvin hit the floor rather hard, causing more irritation to his injuries and making him scream out in pain. Scyther fret over his trainer and a nurse rushed over to his side, she quickly loaded him on a stretcher and rolled him off for examination.

He could see it already…. Once Steel and Brass hear about this he was surely going to get chewed out over this for perusing a Rune in the name of justice.

Oh the irony.