UNKNOWN LOCATION, SEAFOAM ISLANDS
TWO DAYS LATER
"It is ready."
The hooded girl glanced up at the man standing before
her, taking note of the proud expression on his face. His name was Dr. Christmas,
a geneticist who specialized in Pokémon. Though his experiments had made him an
outcast in the scientific community, he had found himself a home here in this
icy cave.
If the girl was pleased with Dr. Christmas' achievement,
she did not show it. The face beneath the white hood remained as neutral and
inexpressive as always. "May I see it?" she asked.
"Of course," said Dr. Christmas. He held out a
strange Poké Ball, that was white all over with ice-blue snowflake markings on
the top half. The hooded girl took hold of it, examined it blankly for a
moment, then pressed the button on the top, releasing the Pokémon within.
From out of the strange Poké Ball burst a Pokémon that
resembled a Pikachu, but was quite clearly not an ordinary one. Its normally
golden-yellow fur was snow-white, and the brown and black markings on its body were
instead a pale blue, matching the colour of the markings on the Poké Ball it
had been summoned from. The electric sacs on its cheeks, usually red, were a
vivid electric blue, and freezing to the touch. It looked up at Dr. Christmas
curiously, then smiled in recognition and said, "Pika!"
Dr. Christmas knelt down and gently petted the Pikachu.
It was freezing to the touch, but the geneticist did not seem to mind. "Cute,
isn't it?" he said.
"Cuteness is not the issue," said the girl
bluntly. "Will it do the job?"
"Oh, of course," said Dr. Christmas. "While
I was splicing in the genes to change its typing, I was sure to give its power
a nice healthy boost. Pikachill here will kick any normal Pikachu into the
dust."
The hooded girl nodded, apparently satisfied. "Good
work, Dr. Christmas," she said. "We'll take it from here."
"Of course," said Dr. Christmas. As he turned
and started to leave, he started muttering to himself. "I wonder which Pokémon
I should enhance next…"
"Something stronger would be nice," said the
hooded girl, glancing down at Pikachill. It's
definitely not much, she thought, but
it's a start. Our plans are underway. It's only a matter of time now…
***
MEANWHILE
VIRIDIAN FOREST
An unexpected heavy downpour had put an end to Brandon
and Taylor's plans to go hunting for Pokémon the previous day, but today the
sun was shining, and so they headed into Viridian Forest. Taylor was eager to
catch her first Pokémon, but there were other things on her mind as well.
"So, what am I aiming for?" she asked Brandon.
"Like… at what point will you decide that I'm good enough?"
"Well, it depends how highly you wanna aim,"
said Brandon. "Ideally, you'll wanna head for the Masters Tournaments, but
I'm not sure whether you'll be good enough to reach that level."
"Me neither, to be honest," admitted Taylor. The
Masters Tournaments were the four biggest and most prestigious Pokémon tournaments
in the world: the Indigo Masters, the Johto Masters, the Unova Masters, and the
Kalos Masters. They attracted worldwide audiences of millions, and the winners
took home cash prizes in excess of ₽100 million.
Only the world's best Pokémon trainers were able to enter them, and only the
best of the best were able to win them. Taylor felt certain that she could
never reach that level. "So, what else is there for me to aim for?"
"Well, obviously, there's the regional Gym
Challenge," said Brandon. "If you do wanna aim for the Masters, then
you'll need to do that anyway, because collecting all eight of your region's Gym
Badges is the requirement for Pokémon Master status. Only Pokémon Masters are
allowed to take part in Masters Tournaments."
"So I'll wanna beat the Gyms, then," said
Taylor. "Okay, that'll be my aim for now. There's a gym in Viridian City,
isn't there?"
"There is," said Brandon, "but
traditionally that's the last one you face. The first one most people take on
is in Pewter City, which is on the other side of Viridian Forest."
"What kind of Pokémon does the Gym Leader there
use?" asked Taylor.
Brandon smiled. "Man, you're already thinking like a
proper trainer," he remarked. "The Gym Leader over at Pewter is
Graham Jones. He uses Bug-types and Poison-types. Ideally, you'll want a
Flying-type Pokémon to counter him. Luckily, you can find Pidgeys here in
Viridian Forest."
Taylor nodded. "Okay," she said. "Sounds
like a plan. Now then, Pidgeys, Pidgeys… where are they…?"
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