Subject: Re: [PW!] [NC] Aerie's Curse (continuation of Battle at Viridian Gym) Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 21:50:40 -0700 From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@soca.com> Organization: Pacific Bell Internet Services Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Mobius101 wrote: > Aerie couldn't think straight. Doppler's hand caressed her cheek, inciting > terrified screams as her body began to transform rapidly without control. > "Stop...please...Father..." She sobbed. > > "Don't cry. I have unleashed my gift of power to you...and nothing will stop us > now. If it's of any comfort, you will not remember any of this." He pulled her > up and looked almost affectionately at her with softly glowing eyes. > > Then she watched in wide eyed horror as Doppler held an Ultraball before her. > In a flash, everything disappeared. Doppler paused to admire the Ultraball. Aerie sometimes wondered what had happened to her mother. Every time, he chaged the subject; eventually, she deduced that he was uncomfortable talking about it, and let the subject slide. He just had not wanted her to know that, just as James was Seth's father, so this ball was Aerie's mother: in every sense except genetic contribution. Doppler had heard of test tube babies before. Although the experiments on Metwo, Mimic, and himself were ample warning that creating a pure pokemon was risky and dangerous, created humans seemed to be as docile as those who were born naturally. Thus, he decided to create a human. Although his initial motivation was pure curiosity, Doppler's insatiable lust for power soon corrupted even this project. He already knew much of human science, having been raised by researchers including Professor Oak, but he devoted himself to research for many months on this project. Not satisfied with just a regular human, he began to design his offspring from the genes up, using techniques that were still largely unknown to this day. Naturally, his own powers were incorporated in; that formed the basis to eventually allow for many other pokemon powers. Contributions from humanity were not ignored, either; he acieved in implementation what many proponents of eugenics - those whom most of the human race shunned, due to their own shunning of those humans already in existence - spent their lives dreaming of. Design and birth were one thing, but genetics never completely described any human or pokemon. The Ultraball was Aerie's egg and crib; through it, Doppler subtly altered her molecular makeup, introducing nutrients in a process only vaguely analogous to feeding, but with similar results. He also tried to hack her mind, forcing her to learn and develop patterns for learning that would last a lifetime. But his dreams would not be realized if she stayed in her cradle forever. He let her out for more and more extensive periods of time, eventually only returning her on her birthday. Every time she was in, he altered her mind so that she would not remember even seeing the Ultraball. She thought she was a normal human, and thanks to his alterations, all evidence supported that fantasy. She was destined to be flawless, like a manufactured crystal. But even crystal may crack in the face of reality. The flaws started appearing around age 8. She no longer held unthinking obedience to his whims, although thanks to the Ultraball's subconscious influence, she still loved him dearly and would follow orders without hesitation. Still, foreign ideas began to creep into her mind from her teachers and fellow students - school being a necessary part of the illusion of humanity, as Doppler was anxious to spend more time on his other plans after nearly a decade's neglect. Concepts like trust and love - things that Doppler knew only as tools for subversion - crept into her mind like weeds, and became more and more difficult to root out. The lack of carefully monitored alterations - training being an outmoded concept, in Doppler's mind, given the tools available - gradually slowed the growth of her physical prowess: she achieved the level of an athletic human, but did not progress into the super levels Doppler had desired. As if her body would matter once she truly accepted what she was. Eventually, Doppler decided to stop fighting and let nature run its course. Although she was, in his mind, forever diminished by these flaws, the raw potential was still there; her DNA never went away. She might not be omnipotent, but she was still his tool. And there was always the Ultraball, guaranteeing her servitude if she ever turned against him. And now, her final edit. Right now, she was getting memories of every pokemon and power Doppler had ever learned to imitate. His "library", as it were. These memories would not awaken until her power did so, too, and thanks to the memory edit, Doppler knew that it would wait until a very specific trigger. He would create stress, then remind her of her true origins. Until then, everything would be as it was...even Mimic could not interfere, for her body would remain as human as it always appeared until the trigger. It was a delicate process - she might remember at any time while under stress - but Doppler was confident he could control the situation until the time was right. Aerie would get Seth under her control willingly - using love, not poke balls - and then Doppler would control them both. Even an Ultraball's technomagic could be undone, but stealing Seth's heart would ensure his loyalty beyond any possible attempt at subversion. *ping* Doppler noted how undramatic the edit was in actual implementation. The machine had been tested, prepared, and now it ran just like one of the Pokemon Centers' recovery stations: a few lights, a few sound effects, but hardly anything that would scream, "History is being written here". Just simple, fast...clinical, almost. Not that he minded. The faster everything fell into place, the sooner he could save humanity from itself. ****** "Aerie! AERIE!!!" "Quiet down, Seth. Even if Giovanni's not here, there could be Rockets *anywhere*." Seth glared at Jessie. "So could Aerie. Dammit, they've probably got her by now! If I hadn't been so careless..." "Don't start blaming yourself. The only result that gets is failure." "Purrsian." Seth looked at Slasher. "You're backing her up? Some Pokemon you-" "Se-eth! Where ARE you?" "Aerie? OVER HERE, AERIE!" Jessie clapped a hand over Seth's mouth just before Aerie and Meowth came out of some bushes. "There you are. Sorry to just dissapear like that." Seth broke free, ran up, and scooped up Aerie in a half-bear-hug, half-fireman's-carry. "Where were you? What happened?" "Doppler found me." "Doppler?!?" Aerie grinned. "My father, silly. He...wanted to wish me a happy birthday, but he'd heard about us. I...he doesn't want to get too close to us right now." "Meowth! I wonder why. Good thing I was there to...'convince' him not to ask her to stay away." Meowth unsheathed his claws, and began running them along each other to sharpen them. "You had nothing to do with it." She glowered at him. "He *wanted* me to stay with you. 'Follow your heart.'" She blushed, and resumed eye contact with Seth. "So, my heart, where will you lead me?" "Well, seeing as it's your birthday, how about we get some Diet Coke to celebrate? I know a big supplier just through that forest." Aerie nodded, and let herself be carried back to the car. "By the way, what'd your father get you for a birthday present?" "He...umm..." "Meowth! Said to keep it a secret; surprise you wit' it when da time's right." "Yeah, that's it." Aerie nodded, wondering why she could only vaguely remember even seeing her father, and definitely could not remember exactly what his gift was...only that he gave her one... ****** "Grmph...erggg...MEOWTH! I *HATE* being cooped up in here!" Meowth strained against his cage, hoping that this time the bars would give way, despite the fact that his previous forty-two attempts had all failed to budge them even a millimeter. His unknown host - it couldn't be Giovanni; Meowth recognized the smell of Mount Moon, and there were no Rocket bases there last time he checked - had supplied him with food and water, but all delivered by machine. He had seen neither human nor pokemon since waking up in this cave, with boulders arranged just so to prevent his escape. What he wouldn't give to learn Strength right now, or even Dig... "Diglett DIG diglett DIG..." Meowth blinked. "Diglett DIG diglett DIG..." It was coming from the floor beneath him. "Diglett DIG diglett DIG..." The sound seemed to be moving around, almost as if uncertain. Well, if it was looking for something... "TRIO TRIO TRIO!" "Diglett! Diglett DIG diglett DIG diglett..." *rumble* *pop* Sure enough, a diglett quickly surfaced. "Hey, there, Diglett. Mind gettin' a fellow pokemon outta a jam?" "Diglett!" "Thanks! You-" "GYARADOS!" Meowth stepped back. It had to be a ditto, but he had never heard of one transforming so fast. The pseudo-dragon made quick work of pushing the boulders out of the way, then turned to Meowth. Then turned *into* Meowth. "Thanks, Ditto." He had never known many dittos, but he tried to remember one which might not mind seeing him go free. "You wouldn't happen to be Duplica's, would you?" "Hmph. Mimic *never* have trainer." "Mimic? What...how...what are you doin' here?" "No time. Must move. This Doppler's base. Probably trapped. Leave NOW!" Meowth started running the instant "Doppler" was mentioned. "Ok, I'm going. You comin', and if so, you mind tellin' me what's going on as we get outta here? Where's James 'n' Maria?" "Trapped in first pokemon spaceship." "Ahh? You mean, they've been abducted by aliens, set adrift on the cold interstellar vacuum, clingin' together to extend their last moments by sharin' oxygen and body heat?" That brought Mimic up short for a second. "Tell Mimic, please...where Meowth *get* imagination like that? Mimic jealous." "You mean, they're not out in space? But you said..." "First pokemon spaceship. Also known as Diet Coke Bottle From Heck. No was unknown aliens', was *our* ancestors'. Unless Meowth not from Earth..." "Well, you know, I never did know my father. Maybe..." "Time later. Free now!" And indeed, they were clear of the cave. The expected traps had simply failed to materialize. "Meowth! Say, Mimic, could you do me a favor, an' fly me to th' bottle? You're probably goin' there too, an'..." "Fly? Why fly? Teleport much faster." "Teleport? But I get upset sto-" They dissapeared one second before the explosive-mined field, on a time delay to catch any intruders just as they thought they had escaped, blew up in a cloud of flame. TBC? > Yeesh, I hope that wasn't too confusing....and no, that wasn't something from > the Men In Black! ^.^;;; Of course it wasn't. If you could just look over here, please... *fwoosh* > ::pops up and tags Adrian before popping away again:: <tags Mimic, who tags Doppler, who tags Aerie, who tags Seth, who tags Jessie, who tags Slasher, who tags Meowth, who tags James, who tags Maria (the character), who tags Maria (the author)>