Tri-Kappa Labs

[Noblejanobii]

Table of Contents:
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Canon Chapters:
Chapter 1 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=166865&viewfull=1#post166865)
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Archived Chapters:
These chapters are no longer canon as they are poorly written and not taking the story really where I wanted it to go. Feel free to read them but, fair warning, they're bad.
Chapter 1 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=119632&viewfull=1#post119632)
Chapter 2 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=120593&viewfull=1#post120593)
Chapter 3 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=121909&viewfull=1#post121909)
Chapter 4 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=122640&viewfull=1#post122640)
Chapter 5 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=123617&viewfull=1#post123617)
Chapter 6 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=134444&viewfull=1#post134444)
Chapter 7 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=142805&viewfull=1#post142805)
Chapter 8 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=150627&viewfull=1#post150627)
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Sloane's profile (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?5107-Tri-Kappa-Labs&p=151569&viewfull=1#post151569)
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Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 1

I remember the days when life was easy, when I didn't have anything more to worry about than doing my homework, wishing for a boyfriend, and hoping the bullies didn't catch me. That was when life was easy, when it was blissful, and when the world was ignorant. It was great, but I never realized that until it was gone.

I stayed up late the night before that world was lost. I couldn't sleep, something forcing me to stay awake. I didn't know what it was but no matter what I tried, I could not fall asleep. I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the seconds tick by. I heard the clock downstairs, which I had dubbed Tickety, ring out, her song echoing throughout the house. Bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong…

Silence settled throughout the whole house after the twelfth chime had been heard. It was midnight and it was then that a pain struck me in my chest. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I sat up in my bed and tried to discern what I was feeling. It was weird. I felt like I had just read the foreshadowing in a book. I knew something bad was about to happen, but I could not tell you for the life of me what. Right as I was going to lay back down, figuring I was just tired or something, I heard a loud CRACK! There was no mistaking that sound. It was a gunshot.

Several more cracks followed after the first. Then everything went quiet. There was no way I could sleep now. I got out of bed and walked to the nearest window. My sleepy neighborhood was quiet and dark. Nothing seemed to be able to disturb this peace. Had I not heard the gunshots mere moments ago, I could have sworn there was nothing wrong. Bang! Bang! Bang! I span around as I heard a loud banging against the front door downstairs.

"Open up!" a loud masculine voice yelled, "You are now under the rule of the Greek Riders! We are collecting tributes under the age of twenty-five to be sent to our laboratories where they will forever serve us for the betterment of the human race! If you do not produce a subject within ten minutes the house and all inside will be wiped from existence."

Terror caused my chest to seize up. I was the only person in the household under twenty-five, not to mention the only one actually in the house anyway. But I wasn't about to listen to the yahoo downstairs telling me what to do. I could legally drink and vote. I wasn't about to let him make my decisions for me like I was seven.

I put on a pair of shoes and grabbed a bag, packing what I could without having to go downstairs. For once I didn't regret having a bunch of water bottles up here. I heard the man yell from downstairs again. Seven minutes. I unlocked the window and lifted it up. The cold night breeze lifted up my short black hair from the back of my neck. It smelled like orchids, and if I wasn't in danger of death I would stop to enjoy it. I looked down at the porch maybe about four feet down from me. Planning my jump, I saw no one else below and assumed that either no one was below me, or I was making a fatal assumption.

I perched on the windowsill and once I felt safe enough, I jumped from the window. I landed on all fours on the porch, my right arm buckling underneath me, causing me to roll across the old wooden porch. It wasn't quiet or stealthy at all. I stood up quickly but I was covered in all sorts of injuries. I had to get out fast or else they would catch me. I made my way to the stairs and slid down the railing, my feet hitting the hardened earth before I knew it. Now all I had to do was cross two feet of open territory to make it to the woods. Simple right? Wrong.

I took off towards the woods, not thinking to look around before hand. It was only the notion to look left that caused me to spot a man pointing his gun at me. I heard a click then everything went black...

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Wow that was scary. o.o I'm wondering if this is gonna be a Pokemon story?! :O Or is it a secret?

[Noblejanobii]

It will be a pokemon story. But not in the way you might think. Though it might be a few chapters before you see how it is a pokemon story. I'm working on Chapter 2 right now. However, my winter break starts at 3:45 pm Friday. As a result, all of my teachers are cramming in tests. So it may be next week before I update. Depends on how tired i am tonight.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Ooh okay. I look forward to the next chapter. Good luck with all your tests! :)

[Noblejanobii]

Let's hope I don't fail them! I totally am. And Yeah my first fan! ^^

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 2

The darkness dispersed are what seemed like years. I felt my consciousness lifting, the pressure on my head growing lighter with each passing second. But my entire body weighed down like a piece of lead. Cold air surrounded me, crawling up my spine to meet the beads of sweat that trickled downward towards the floor. My hands were bound above me, I was forced on my knees. My eyelids started to feel lighter and I opened them slowly.

A jail cell came into view. It was all a dark dim gray. Walls of cement blocks trapped me on three sides, bars barricading me in on the fourth. Everything was varying shades of gray, depression settling inside of me at the sight, until I spotted a flash of brown. It was quickly followed by a heavy sigh. I narrowed my eyes and pushed against my restraints to try and get a closer look. Instantly the restraints tightened, cutting like plastic into my skin. I cried out in pain, getting the guy's attention.

"You're awake." He said. The man stood up from where he had been sitting against the wall with his back to me. I looked him over as he faced me. The guy was tall, maybe about five inches difference between the two of us. He had tanned skin that was probably darkened even more given the poor lightening of the room. But his emerald green eyes shown out brilliantly anyway. They studied me just as my brown eyes studied him. The guy hadn't shaved in a little while, the stubble appearing on his chin. He was dressed in all black, combat wear. No doubt he had on bullet proof padding. He was strongly built, like he had been trained for this life. Perhaps he had. My eyes trailed down to the gun on his left hip. The holster was on his left side, so he was left handed, at least while shooting.

"What? You just going to stare at me?" The man said. I frowned and glared at him, but did not say a word. "I'm taking that as a yes." He said with a sigh. "Well little Miss Runner, when you feel like talking, talk. The faster we get this done the faster I can get you out of those cuffs and into more comfortable conditions. I can also get some food into that belly of yours." At the mention of food my stomach rumbled. Curse the human body and its many ways of bribery. Despite this, I kept my lips sealed. The man gave me a sympathetic look and shook his head. "Fine. Stay here. You'll crack eventually." He sat down against the wall and began to drum his fingers against his leg.

I leaned my head against the wall behind me, wishing and hoping this was all a dream. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. Could it? My stomach growled again and I groaned a little. The guy glanced over his right shoulder at me. He frowned a little at me, biting the inside of his left cheek as he did. "Ready to talk yet?" He asked. I shook my head. "Geez you're stubborn." The guy replied before going back to tapping out a beat. It took me a minute to recognize the song. It was Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley. The guy had a sense of humor. I'd give him that. Time passed slowly, the only sounds in the jail was the idiot's Jailhouse Rock song.

Finally, as he finished playing the song, the guy glanced over his shoulder at me again. When I didn't even really acknowledge the look, he sighed loudly and stood up. I thought he was going to leave me here but instead he came into my cell and crossed his arms. "Just talk already. Look, you're bored, I'm bored, and all you have to do to get out of here is just answer like five questions. Ok? So just let me ask you these five questions and then we can leave. Sound fair?" I just stared at the guy quietly. After a minute he huffed in frustration. "If you don't talk I will make you talk." I still didn't say anything. The guy shook his head and reached for his gun. "Didn't want to have to do this but you've forced my-" Just then, as if God perfectly timed it, the guy's stomach growled, really loudly. I couldn't stop myself from busting into laughter. Tears filled my eyes, I was laughing so hard. The man's face turned a shade of pink and he looked away from me.

He seemed more and more nervous as I continued to laugh. I finally stopped, my breath escaping me. The guy's face was red from embarrassment and possibly anger. He clenched his fists and took deep breaths. It was then that it occurred me. How long had he been sitting there waiting for me to wake up? He couldn't leave either. Maybe he had been here the entire time. Guilt rose like bile up in my throat. "I'm sorry." I whispered. The guy's fists loosened a bit at the sound of my voice. He sighed and pinched his nose before sitting down in front of me.

"Look, I don't want to be here any longer than you. Trust me. All we have to do to get out of here is have you answer a few basic questions. That's it." He said, "And if you want, I'll answer any of your questions too. Deal?" I hesitated. It sounded like a reasonable deal. But could I trust this guy? After a minute of deep thought, I nodded. The guy smiled and said, "Ok, first, what's your name?"

"Shayla." I replied.

"Your full name." He said. I sighed and rattled off my name,

"Shayla Adelia Maricela Modesta Eva Abano Cortez." The man chuckled.

"So you're Hispanic then?"

"That's right. But I was born and raised in the United States of America." I replied, "Now, what's your name?"

"Quill Andreus Maxi." He replied, "Caucasian. Born in Greece but raised in the United States." Quill thought over his next question then asked, "Did you have any plans in regards to say a job or college before this happened?"

"Yeah." I said, "Job wise at least. I had hoped to get the job opening at Home Depot in the gardening section. I really like gardening. You?"

"I grew up with the sole purpose of becoming a soldier." Quill said. I winced. No sugar coat there. "Who and where are your parents?"

"My dad is in France right now. His first name is Horacio. You know the rest. My mom was Terrica. She's six feet under. Cancer got her when I was in sixth grade."

"Sorry for your loss." Quill replied, "You'll be pleased to know that your dad is safe where he is for now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain later." Quill watched me closely in silence and it took me a minute to realize he was waiting on me to ask a question.

"Where are you parents?"

"Dead or in Greece." He said, "My foster parents are dead as well." I could see this was a painful subject for him through the hurt that surfaced in his eyes and the quickness of his changing the topic.

"Age and birthday?"

"22 and March 31, 1992. You?"

"25 and November 2, 1989."

Several more questions of unimportance were asked of me. By that point Quill could tell I was relaxed and decided to get to the true grit of my interrogation.

"Have you ever heard of the Greek Riders before this encounter?" Quill asked me, curiosity sparking like a flame in his eyes.

"No." I responded quickly, anger filling me voice, "The first time I met them they tried to blow up my house and threatened to kill me! Who the heck do they think they are?"

"The rulers of this country."

"What?"

"They took over the country yesterday. It's why they attacked your house. I was lucky I had received intel that your neighborhood would be one of the ones hit first."

"And who do you work for?"

"The Roman Charioteers." Quill said, "Protectors of the peace. We are trying to prevent the Greek Riders from taking over, but they have succeeded in science where we have not." He stood up and began to mess with my shackles. "After breakfast, I'll tell you the rest. But for now I think I'll unshackle you. I know that is uncomfortable." There was a click and my shackles opened. My arms fell down by my sides. I stretched them a little bit, getting the blood flowing through them again. I was rubbing my wrists when Quill offered a hand to help me up. I took it and stood up.

We exited the cell and I never looked back. I hadn't been there long but I hoped to never return. I felt relief hit me as we left the dungeon-like area. I looked around the long blue corridor ahead of me. People in guard uniforms lined the walls. I shifted uncomfortably as we continued to pass them, the fact that they were all staring at us sending shivers down my spine. Quill noticed my discomfort and gave me a reassuring smile. It wasn't that reassuring to me though. We reached the end of the blue corridor and took a right onto another corridor, this one green. Here there were many viewing windows into a variety of rooms. Quill and I walked passed them quickly but I caught glimpses of a training room, a library, and a mechanic shop through some of the windows. Finally we reached a metal door. Quill pushed it open and we entered a large room. It was silver all around, except for the roof which was glass windows. The sunlight was what illuminated the entire place, glimmering and reflecting off the metals in the room. People were all over the place, some dashing back and forth between machines, others relaxing on furniture, while some just stood and observed the entire scene that lay before them. The place seemed to be divided into a mix of relaxation areas, working areas, and stores. They were each evenly spaced apart in an intricate pattern as if some OCD high school nerd had organized the entire thing.

Quill lead me to one of the nearest relaxation areas. It was purple with a TV and a couch. A girl was laying across the couch dressed in purple as well. Not kidding. Her jeans were purple, her converse were purple, and her hoodie was purple. Her shirt was purple too but it had the words "I'm just an arms dealer" on the front. I recognized those to be lyrics of the Fallout Boy song "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and if I had to guess, the rest of that line ("fitting you with weapons in the form of words") was on the back of her shirt. She also had purple Beats headphone hung around her neck. Her long brown hair was everywhere, most of it hanging down over the arm of the couch that she was leaning against. The girl was typing rapidly on a Windows XP tablet. I squinted to try and read what she was typing but the text moved to quickly for me to make it out. Quill cleared his throat and the girl stopped typing. She clicked off her tablet and looked back at us. Her skin was pale, like she hadn't gone outside much but she had freckles all over her cheeks. Her eyes were a brilliant violet that matched her glasses which were, you guessed it, purple. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that's her favorite color.

"Quill, you're finally back." She said to him. Her gaze slid to me and she looked me over through her frameless purple glasses. "And you brought a girl." The girl smiled a little and looked back to Quill. She began to wiggle her eyebrows at him.

"No Sloane. Put those eyebrows away Sloane." Quill said with a huge grin on his face. "I will shave them off of you don't." The girl, who's name was Sloane I guess, began to laugh in response.

"So who is she?"

"Her house was attacked yesterday by the Greek Riders when South Carolina's government fell. Her name is Shayla." Quill replied seriously. Sloane looked back at me sadly and sighed.

"Yesterday was a dark day for the Carolinas." She said, "I'm Sloane Jackson. Nice to meet you. I hope both of our homes are safe even while under Greek Rider control."

"You're from South Carolina?" I asked her. Sloane nodded in response.

"Born and raised. Though I left yesterday when all chaos broke loose. I got a heads up. Not many others were so lucky." I opened my mouth to ask what she meant but Quill cut me off.

"Like I said earlier, I'll explain everything to you after breakfast. I just thought I'd introduce you to the team first."

"The team?"

"The people you'll be working with if you say yes to a question later."

"Wait wh-"

"No time! This is the only time of the day that Being comes out from his labs." Quill grabbed my right arm and pulled me away from Sloane's place. We ran down the long room to a laboratory room. At first I didn't see anyone, but then I saw movement. A boy with spiky navy blue with red streaked hair was messing around with some test tubes in the back. He was dressed in a white lab coat but that's all I could see. He was also about five foot eight if I had to guess. Not too tall but not too short either. "Being!" The kid jumped and dropped one of his test tubes. The glass shattered on the floor and a green liquid spilled everyone. Being turned around and glared at Quill.

"Not funny man! You're lucky that's just colored water!" He said. His skin was fairly light as well, but unlike Sloane, Being lacked any freckles. His eyes were a bright blue that seemed like they should sparkle like the ocean, but right now all I could see what an endless sea of anger. Being seemed pretty upset but Quill just kept right on laughing.

"That's what you always say." Quill retorted. Being huffed loudly and crossed his arms. He turned his back to us but then hesitated. Being looked over his shoulder at me.

"Who's the new girl?"

"Her name's Shayla. She is one of the refugees from South Carolina."

"Ahh." Being turned around and walked over to me. "Pleasure to meet you. Being Mascist. I'm from the Asia sector. Recently transferred here." I gave him a confused look. "Ah. Quill hasn't explained everything yet. Ok well that will make sense once he does. Now if you'll please excuse me I have broken lab equipment to attend to." With that Being turned from me and walked back to where the broken test tube was. Before I could even blink, Quill had my arm again and was dragging me down the hallway.

This time we stopped by a bakery and for a second I thought we were finally going to get breakfast but then I realized I was being introduced to some more people. Quill waved to a pair of fraternal twins. They waved back, served someone else then came over to us. They both had blonde hair and brown eyes. The girl was at the guy's armpits height wise. They both had big smiles and wore aprons. Their skins were darker than Being and Sloane's but still pretty pale.

"Shayla, these are the twins Mew and Dew Bryant. They're from the Texas station." Quill said.

"Hello!" The twins said at the same time. "Sorry, we'd love to stay and chat but we have to keep serving our customers." The brother, Dew, continued, "Hopefully we can talk again soon." And just as quickly as they had came they were gone.

"Sorry." Quill said, "They're really busy right now otherwise they wouldn't have brushed us off like that." This time he didn't need to drag me, but now I came willingly. As long as I got my food later. Quill was searching this time around. He kept looking for someone but obviously didn't see anyone until his eyes landed on a black relaxation center where two guys were chilling. We walked over to them and I saw they were playing Gears of Modern Halo Blackops 7 featuring zombie nazis dancing Gangnam style. It had been a huge hit when it came out, unsurprisingly.

One guy was sitting cross legged on the couch, sticking his tongue out as he focused intently on the screen, currently mashing the A button on his control. He had leaf green hair that spiked every which way. His eyes were also the same green, competitiveness flashing in them as he continued his game. His skin was very dark, but he was obviously Caucasian. He was small from the looks of it, dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans with red tennis shoes. He obviously had no sense of fashion coordination. However, this kid was currently winning the level against the other boy who was hanging upside down on the other side of the couch.

The other kid had dark black hair and brown glasses. His skin was fairly light, kind of like Being's complexion. He had big brown eyes but the rest of his was pretty small. He had a black t-shirt and jeans on. I noticed a blue Yarmulka was on the floor by his head. It must have fallen off and he hadn't noticed yet.

"I doubt that's Kosher." I muttered Quill snickered and introduced the boys.

"The green haired boy is Oliver Rex and the Jewish boy is Joey Zeus. They may not look it, but these two are really good in the field. Wrecking mayhem is their speciality." Quill said to me. "I'd introduce you but I think they're busy and I know you want breakfast. Come on. There's a chick-fil-a a few rows down."

Without waiting for acknowledgement from the boys, Quill and I walked down the corridor to a chick-fil-a. We ordered and Quill paid for it all. I quickly sat down at an empty table with Quill and began to devour my food. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until that moment and all manners were forgotten. I scarfed down two chicken biscuits and a drink before noticed that Quill was smirking at me.

"What?"

"You don't seem to care that I'm in your presence."

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Quill said. He waited a moment and said, "Ready for me to explain everything." I wiped my mouth with a napkin and nodded. Finally getting to the good stuff here.

"As I mentioned before, we are a group called the Roman Charioteers. We were created to protect the world against the Greek Riders but recently, due to their scientific advances that we have yet to achieve, the Greek Riders have gained the upper hand. They've started to take over governments then capture anyone under twenty-five, ship them off to a lab, and then force them to become part of their army. So far they've overthrown about thirty-six of the fifty states and half of China."

"Is that what Being meant when he said he was an Asian transfer?"

"Yes. He was originally in a China facility but escaped and was shipped here. All of the members of our group nowadays has had some sort of encounter with the Greek Riders. Each story is the same yet unique. When our organization was founded long ago, our leaders decided it was best to find these people and have them form teams that go out to stop the Greek Riders. Who I introduced you to earlier is my team. Well most of them. One member I didn't see anywhere but he'll show up eventually.

"Now, we each are put on these teams because of specific skills each of us has. I have leadership as well as fitness. Sloane is technology and Being is chemistry. Dew and Mew are survival skills as well as black belts in mixed martial arts. Oliver and Joey are strategy and stealth. We also have specific sets of abilities. Now here's where things get complicated.

"See, the Greek Riders have created a form of super human able to use a variety of abilities to attack our agents. In response, the Roman Charioteers created what we call fusions. Upon joining us, a sliver of DNA is added to your body that allows you to change into a fusion."

"A fusion of what exactly?"

"A fusion of Pokemon."

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Oooh. :O Pokemon fusions! That's really cool. I can't wait to see what Pokemon everyone is. :D

Also this made me laugh. xD


Gears of Modern Halo Blackops 7 featuring zombie nazis dancing Gangnam style

[Noblejanobii]

Lol thank you Pokemon Trainer Sarah. I didn't see your comment until just now. That quote is a reference to a anime reviewer who was reviewing Sword Art Online. He said that in the context of there won't be any other really big games until "Gears of Modern Halo Blackops 7 featuring zombie nazis dancing gangam style comes out."

And yes, pokemon fusions. You're in luck. In chapter 3 a lot more is revealed. It's mainly an information chapter though so there's not much action but I can promise that chapter 4 will have the most actions yet! Ok, next post is chapter 3!

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 3

"Fusion with Pokemon?" I asked, confusion washing over my features. "You can't be serious right? Pokemon aren't even real. They are a children's card and video game. Plus a TV series. They're not real." Quill smiled at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. He shook his finger at me and said,

"I thought you might say that. But trust me, they're every bit as real as us."

"Quill!"

"In fact, you're about to meet one right now." Quill looked to his right. I followed his gaze and couldn't believe my eyes. A little orange lizard with a flame on his tail and a collar around his neck ran up on all fours to Quill. He sat back on his haunches and wagged his tail furiously.

"Quill! You're back!" He said happily. My jaw dropped in shock.

"Is he-?" I started.

"A Charmander? Yes, yes he is." Quill finished for me. "His name is Trebble. Trebble, this is Shayla. Say hello." Trebble crawled over to me and wagged his tail.

"Hi Miss Shayla! I'm Trebble! I like pets, snacks, belly rubs, and naps." Trebble paused when he suddenly saw his tail. He growled. "So we meet again!" Trebble began to chase his tail. "I will catch you! You can't run forever!"

"He's just like a talking orange flaming lizard dog." I commented.

"Yeah. That's just him. Most of them don't act like dogs. That's just Trebble's personality. He's very loyal and works as the messenger for my team."

"Team?" Quill nodded.

"Yeah see, as I was explaining earlier, we fuse with Pokemon. Scientists here have created a way to infuse the DNA of Pokemon into us. With that, we have the capability to become a Pokemon ourselves. Depending on certain qualities of the DNA and of the Pokemon, the transformations vary. Certain agents, like myself, can only do full transformations. Meaning I can only be fully Pokemon or fully human. There is no in between. Some, like Sloane, can do gradual transformations. They can change certain parts of their body or do a full transformation. The only con with that is that they have to have at least one part of them changed at all times."

"Sloane didn't seem to be transformed at all."

"Oh she was and you saw her transformation too. But what was changed looked so natural that unless you knew what her Pokemon DNA base was you would think she was a regular human."

"What is she?"

"Ah ah ah. Let me finish explaining everything first before I get to that." Quill chastised. "Anyway, the members here at Roman Charioteers form teams, usually of about 8-10 members to balance out the team. Everyone has a role to play. Leader, messenger, scientist, pokedex, chef, etc. We all have to work together or else we won't function well as a team and die whenever we face the Greek Riders. As you'll recall I mentioned that the Greek Riders had made an advance in science that surpassed anything out scientists had done earlier. Well, while we can fuse with Pokemon and the lucky few of us can do partial transformations, the Greek Riders have something better."

"What?"

"Gijinkas."

"Gijinkas?"

"Half Human and half Pokemon. Most of them are pretty easily disguisable as humans but they have all the powers of a Pokemon. They're power houses already but unlike us their bases are active all the time so while we have to take time to activate our bases, they're already using theirs and can easily attack us. Ever since that advancement they've began to win and they're now attacking governments. Our scientists are trying to find something to counter it with but I doubt that they will find anything soon." Quill sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "So many have died and it won't be over until we're all dead." Quill looked at me with sad eyes. "Shayla, we need all the help we can get. You were targeted by the Greek Riders as a tribute for a reason and I think it means you're unique in some way. Please help us out."

I looked at him silently, hoping the shock registered on my face as much as it resonated within my head. Quill's face fell a little bit when he saw my look. His eyes voiced my own thoughts. I didn't believe any of this. Even with Trebble in front of me, this couldn't be real. It had to all be a dream. Unless, it wasn't a dream. I looked around at all the people at the tables around us. Some of them looked like normal humans, others had wings or tails, and then there were pokemon running all over the place playing with one another. How could this be real? But how could it not be? I swallowed hard and looked back at Quill. Immediately I felt my heart crack a little. He looked crestfallen. His emerald eyes swam with sorrow as he watched my disbelief. He wanted me here, there was no way to fake that kind of emotion. I bit my lip and thought it over hard. I couldn't go home. I had nowhere else to go that I was aware of. I didn't even know where this compound was. We could be on the moon for all I knew. But this guy... he wanted me here. He had stayed with me for who knows how long last night and today waiting for me to wake up. After all his kindness, could I really just leave him?

"Ok." I whispered. Quill perked up a little bit and looked at me as surprise flickered across his face. "I'll help you out. But only if you tell me who everyone's bases are and let me get a base." Quill's lips split into a large smile and he laughed.

"Yes and yes." He replied, "But getting you your own base won't be immediate. There's a procedure we have to go through first. But telling you everyone else's bases on our team will be easy." Quill pulled a walkie talkie from his belt and spoke into it. "Hey Mew and Dew, when can you guys take a break? The new girl says she's on board but only if we tell her our bases." There was static for a minute before Dew's deep voice rattled over the stream.

"The breakfast rush should be finished in about fifteen minutes. Give us until then. Where should we meet?"

"The usual." Quill responded, "Everyone got that right? Meet at the usual spot in fifteen minutes."

"Roger!" Joey and Oliver said over the frequency.

"I hear you." Being added.

"Fifteen minutes tops." Mew said, "But we'll be there."

Everyone waited in silence but Sloane's voice never came over the line. Quill frowned a little and sighed,

"Sloane? You there?" Static covered the line again. Sloane didn't answer.

"I bet she's on the roof again." Being's voice crackled.

"The roof?" I said, giving Quill a confused look.

"It's where she goes when she wants to be alone." He explained, "She goes there to think or when she needs inspiration for one of her stories. None of us understand what's so appealing about it but something up there keeps her going up there." Quill put the walkie talkie to his mouth again. "I'll go get her. I'll meet you guys in fifteen." Quill stood up from the table. Trebble jumped to Quill's shoulder and I stood up in response. Pushing in our chairs, Quill lead me to a side corridor that was very dark and very small. At the end of the corridor was a set of stairs. We began to climb up the stairs, the stairs spiraling like spider stairs. It was hard to see and I tripped a few times but finally we reached a door. Quill pushed it open, but the door obviously resisted his efforts. As I stepped outside after him, I understood why. The wind howled as it raced at a high speed around us. No wonder Sloane came up here to be alone. No one else was probably crazy enough to come up here. I scanned the roof and saw Sloane at the far edge.

She was smiling a little, her headphones over her ears. She was holding her right one closer with her hand and I saw her lips moving, like she was talking to someone. Sloane stopped for a little bit then giggled in response to something. Was she actually talking to someone? Quill took a step forward and Sloane stiffened. That was the only sign she gave of knowing we were here. Her lips moved quickly again before she messed with her phone. When Quill and I reached her, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" by Fall out boy (the lyrics of this song were on her shirt if you'll recall my mentioning earlier) was playing through her headphones. Quill hadn't seemed to have noticed her talking, either that or he didn't care. Quill just reached down and tapped her shoulder. Sloane lowered her headphones and looked at him.

"Did I miss a meeting call?" She asked. Quill nodded. Sloane sighed and shook her head. "Sorry. I was stuck on one of my stories and I was trying to think of something for it. No luck so far though." Sloane stood up from the edge of the roof, her headphones hanging around her neck, phone in her pocket, and her tablet clutched closely in her arms. "I'll come back up later and see if I can get some inspiration then." With that, the three of us left the roof.

Sloane and Quill lead me back downstairs to the main hallway area. We walked back in the direction of the relaxation room I had met Sloane in, but we passed it and kept going. Soon we passed under an arch with a sign on it. The sign said, "Guild Rooms." I frowned a little in confusion but just kept following Quill and Sloane. As I looked around, I noticed this whole place was sectioned off into meeting rooms. On each door there was a team name. Elevators, escalators, and stairs allowed easy access to rooms on all the different floors. Quill lead Sloane and I into an elevator. He pulled out a key card from his pocket and tapped it against the registration pad. He then hit the number twenty-three, the top floor I presumed since there were no other numbers above it. Without further delay, the elevator shot up at an unusual speed. I grabbed onto Quill in surprise and he smiled as I clung to him for dear life while he just relaxed against the railing. I shot him a hateful look then slid my gaze to Sloane. She looked extremely uncomfortable, holding the railing with white knuckles, her teeth were clenched and her eyes were misty. I then realized why. The entire elevator was glass and Sloane was looking down. She was terrified of heights.

The elevator finally slid to a stop and shuttered as the door opened. Quill held me as Sloane was the first one off, literally jumping out of the elevator and collapsing on the ground. Quill lead me out and I released him from my clutches. Sloane stayed on the ground for a minute or two more before shakily standing up. Quill resumed the lead and we followed him down the small hallway. He stopped at a room with the number twenty-three above the number 310 on it and the name "Tri-Kappa" on the door. Quill tapped his card against a scanner by the door. It glowed green and the door slid open. The three of us stepped inside where Oliver, Joey, and Being all awaited us.

"Mew and Dew have not arrived yet?" Quill asked, checking his watch.

"No sir." Being replied, "But they still have about ten more minutes before the rush is over." Quill nodded his head in thought before sitting down. I took the seat to his right and Sloane sat across the table from us.

"I would like to begin if that is alright with all of you. Hopefully Mew and Dew will be here soon so they can catch up. Anyway, this is Shayla, as you all know. She has decided to join our team but on the conditions that we tell her what our bases our and get her a base as well. I informed her that getting her a base might take a little while but showing her ours wouldn't be that much of a problem. So, without further ado, would anyone like to go first?" The conference room remained silent for a minute before Sloane raised her hand.

"I'll go first." She said. Sloane pursed her lips then said, "I am Pokemon #715, Noivern the Sound Wave Pokemon. I have the ability infiltrator which allows me to get up close with my opponents and pass through any barriers such as light screen and be able to attack them. I have the naive nature, increasing my speed but lowering my special defense. I also have the characteristic "likes to fight" which increases my attack power. I have the moves dragon pulse, boom burst, steel wing, and flamethrower. I also carry the item metronome because I tend to use the same moves repeatedly. I am what's called a first generation purebred fusion meaning my DNA has only one base, which is noivern. This allows me to do partial transformations but at the cost that I have to have a partial transformation going at all times. My headphones," Sloane lifted them a little, "are my transformation. They become my ears when i become a noivern." Sloane took a deep breath and seemed to be thinking. "I think that's about it."

"I'll go next." Being said. He smiled at me then continued, "I am Pokemon #156, Quilava the Volcano Pokemon. I have the ability Blaze which increases the power of my fire type moves when I'm close to unconsciousness or death. I have a lonely nature which increases my attack but lowers my defense. I have the characteristic "mischievous" which increases my special attack. I know the moves Eruption, flame wheel, brick break, and aerial ace. I also carry the item charcoal to further increase my fire power. I am also a purebred fusion, but I am from the second generation while Sloane is from the first. This truly has no meaning except that I have less detectable transformations." Being rolled up his sleeves to show red stripes covering his arms. "I have these all over my body, starting at my torso. I also have these in my pokemon form but they cover my entire body then." Being surveyed the room to see who would go next. It was Oliver who spoke up.

"Well I'm Oliver, in case you don't remember seeing me. I have two bases, Pokemon #152 Chikorita, the leaf pokemon, and Pokemon #175 Togepi, the spike ball Pokemon. I have the ability Super Luck which makes it easier for me to land critical hits. I have the quiet nature which increases my special attack but lowers my speed. I have the characteristic "good endurance" which increases my defense. I know the moves metronome, ancient power, vine whip, and solar beam. I hold the item Power Herb so I have one charge-free solar beam attack. I am a first generation dual-breed fusion meaning I have more than one base in my DNA, chikorita and togepi. This results in me only being able to change to either fully human or fully pokemon. It also means that since I'm a first generation, I will never be able to evolve my bases and that they had to be first stages when they implanted them into me."

"I guess that's where I come in." Joey said. "I'm Joey and I also have two bases, Pokemon #197, Umbreon the Moonlight Pokemon, and Pokemon #006, Charizard, the flame pokemon. I have the ability Drought which creates intense sunlight upon my transformation. I have the naughty nature which increases my attack but lowers my special defense. I have the characteristic "likes to fight" as well so my attack is increased further. I know the moves Blast Burn, Dark Pulse, Dragon Claw, and Air Slash. I carry the Expert Belt item to increase the power of my moves that have type advantages against my opponents. I am a second generation dual-breed fusion which means I also have two bases in my DNA. Just like the others, I can only be fully human or fully pokemon. However, since I'm second generation, I was able to evolve my bases, as they started as a charmander and an eevee. However, second generations had to have the first stages implanted into them. Anything higher than that and our DNA would break down." There was a knock at the door and then it opened revealing Dew and Mew. Quill smiled and gestured to their seats.

"You guys are just in time. We were just telling Shayla about our bases. Dew, why don't you go next since we're going in order of breed and generation." Dew nodded and looked at me.

"Well Shayla, I have two bases just like the others. I am have the bases of Pokemon #502, Dewott the Discipline Pokemon, and Pokemon #521, Unfezant the Proud Pokemon. I have the ability Shell Armor which prevents me from receiving critical hits. I have the gentle nature which increases my special defense but lowers my defense. I also have the characteristic "quick to flee" which increases my speed. I have the moves Shell Blade, Sky Attack, Hydro Pump, and Heat Wave. I carry the item mystic water to power up my water moves even when in sunlight. I am a third generation dual-breed fusion. In my case, they were able to put evolved pokemon bases into my DNA but I cannot evolve them."

"Now it's my turn." Quill said, "I have two bases as well. I have the bases of Pokemon #156 Quilava the Volcano Pokemon and Pokemon #492, Shaymin the Gratitude Pokemon, Sky forme. I have the ability Flash Fire meaning fire type moves only increase my fire power. I have the characteristic "Likes to thrash about" which increases my attack. I also have the Mild nature which increases my special attack by lowers my defense. I have the moves Air Slash, Flamethrower, Seed Flare, and Rollout. I carry a miracle seed to increase my seed flare's power. I am a first generation legend-breed fusion. This means that I have two bases, one of which is a legendary and one of which is a regular pokemon. The regular pokemon base must be implanted as a first stage, in my case cyndaquil, but can evolve."

"And that leaves me." Mew finished off. "I have three bases. I have the bases of Pokemon #156, Quilava the volcano Pokemon, #151, Mew the New Species Pokemon, and #251, Celebi the Time travel Pokemon. I have the modest nature and have the characteristic "loves to eat" which increases my HP. I know the moves Leaf storm, Eruption, Aura Sphere, and Psychic. I have the item black belt to increase the power of my fighting type move. I am a fourth generation legend-breed fusion. This means I have three bases, two of which are legendaries, and one of which is a regular pokemon. We can implant evolved pokemon bases but they cannot evolve."

"Then there's little old me!" Trebble added, waving his paw. "I have the base of Pokemon #004, Charmander the lizard pokemon. I have the bashful nature which means no stat gains or loses for me but I have the characteristic of "likes to run" so my speed goes up anyway. I know the moves dragon pulse, inferno, iron claw, and focus blast. I carry the item called the "Masa Crest." It was designed specifically for me. It maximizes my speed stat as well as allows me to use the move focus blast, which normal charmanders cannot learn. I am a first generation, purebred."

"So how do you determine what generation, breed, and base you are? Is it all part of the same test?" I asked, looking at Quill.

"I was waiting for you to ask that." Quill replied, "See, remember when I said we couldn't give you a base right away? Well, that's why. Our scientists have to test your DNA to determine the bases, generation, and breed best fit for you. If they don't give you the right one your DNA could break down and cause you to die."

"I figured you had a legit reason but that's not what I expected." I said honestly. Quill chuckled and looked at the others.

"So, I was thinking Shayla could join our team. We could definitely use another member and she has nowhere else to go now that she knows everything she does. I feel like it would be best if she joined us. Sound good?" Everyone voiced their agreements and I smiled a little.

"Thank you all for welcoming me." I said.

"Well on that note, I'll go get Shayla her base and get her registered into the system." Everyone stood up. Trebble jumped on Quill's shoulder as everyone else filed out the door to their respective places. Quill lead me back to the elevator. The ride down was just as bad as the first, except this time it wasn't just Quill, myself, and Sloane. As the elevator began its rapid descent, I grabbed hold of Quill again instinctively. Quill wrapped one of his arms around me for reassurance. I buried my face in his chest and a few minutes later the ride was over. I pulled away from him, suddenly embarrassed at my action, but Quill didn't seem to mind until Being let out a cat call.

"Looks like we know who the next power couple is." Both Quill and I's faces went red. We exited the elevator quickly, the laughter of our teammates following behind us. When we got a decent ways away from the elevators, Quill and I stopped running. We slowed to a walk. My face was still very red, my heart pounding. I couldn't look at Quill. I was too embarrassed to look at him. We walked in silence for a little while before I felt Quill's strong arm wrap around my shoulder. He moved my head to face his.

"Hey, come on. Don't let what Being get to you. He's an idiot despite being a genius." Quill said, a broad smile playing on his lips. "Now come on, let me see a smile." I smiled a little at him and Quill laughed. "There it is! That's what I like to see." Quill lead me down the hallway past where we had eaten earlier to another archway area. This time the sign above read "Bases." I assumed that meant like DNA bases. Unlike the guild area, this place only had one door. Quill opened the door for me and I walked in then waited for him to take the lead again. He lead me down a long hallway to another door, which lead to another hallway and another door, so on and so forth until about seven hallways and doors later. After that final door, Quill and I entered a large room that reminded me of a hospital room.

Everything was white and the place stunk of medicine. There was one of those metal doctor beds to my right, pressed up against the wall with a little white blanket on top of it. Directly ahead of us was another door and beside the door was a table filled with syringes, medicines, and other doctorly tools that sent a shiver down my spine. I hate doctor's offices. Standing beside the table was a man, an old man. He had black hair that was greying and blue eyes that popped from behind his spectacles. He had on a lab coat with khaki pants and a black shirt. The man leaned on his chain as he squinted at me.

"Where'd you find her Quill? I've seen better." He finally said. Quill sighed and replied,

"She's better than she looks." He turned to me, "Shayla this is Dr. Mullins. He's going to get you a base."

"Sit." Dr. Mullins said, pointing to the bed thing. I walked over to it and sat on the blanket. Dr. Mullins slowly made his way over to me and examined me. It was like he was giving me a physical with his eyes. I didn't like the creeping feeling it gave me as he looked me over. He just stared at me unblinking. Gave me the shivers. Finally Dr. Mullins looked back at Quill and said, "You've brought us a strong one. She will be able to take a high level base. I can tell. What though, I am unsure. We will have to test her with the illusions."

"Illusions?" I asked, looking quizzingly at Quill. Quill opened his mouth to explain but Dr. Mullins stopped his with a wave of his hand.

"She will find out soon enough. No need to bother telling her." He walked over to the table by the door and picked up a syringe. Dr. Mullins came back over to me and commanded, "Lay back." His stern tone caused my body to react immediately, doing as it was told. Before I could protest, he jabbed the needle in my arm and my vision began to fray at the edges. I groaned as time seemed to slow and it became harder for me to keep my eyes open. I heard Quill say something just before I descended into darkness,

"Welcome Alice, to the rabbit hole."

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Ooh all these fusions are so complex with their different generations and things. I look forward to finding out about what they actually look like she they're in Pokemon form! I think it's cool that they all have natures and characteristics too!

[Noblejanobii]

I am glad that you like it! I actually have the sprites for everyone except Sloane made up so when it comes up I will post their sprited so you can see what they look like. As for generations and such, I felt there needed to be sort of a class system since every person's DNA is different, meaning they can only tolerant certain DNA implants. Plus, you have to think about it. When this first started, they weren't just instantly able to fuse an Arceus' DNA into a person. They had to start small and work their way up. That's why there are different generations with different restrictions and strengths. As for natures and characteristics, because they have Pokemon DNA in them, I felt it was understandable that they would share as many qualities as possible with these pokemon, which included natures and characteristics. While the natures and characteristics don't usually reflect the individual, they do reflect something else that may become more clear in the next chapter or so.

Just as an update I am working on the next chapter but I do plan for it to be a much larger chapter. Currently I am debating whether I want to split the events into more than one chapter or not. So what is your opinion? Would you prefer quicker but shorter updates or longer but slower updates?

[Suicune's Fire]

As you know, I haven't read it yet, but I'm answering your question anyway. :] I prefer slower but longer chapters. Mine average on 10,000 words per chapter. xD But that's just me. I prefer detailed accounts of events, because it allows room for feelings and emotions, as well as a nice, fleshed-out description of what's going on. I mean, sometimes it works when things move faster, but for other things, I find that more detail is a great way to go.

After I read it I may be able to give you a more detailed (haha) or specific answer!

[Noblejanobii]

Alright then. Slower longer chapters it is.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I generally prefer shorter chapters, only because I don't often have a lot of time to sit and read. xD So if a chapter is short, I feel like I can just read it in-between doing other things, while if its long, I feel like I need to set aside time for it, which may not happen for a while. But I think you should just do whatever you prefer. :) I'll keep reading either way!

[Noblejanobii]

Well most of my chapters won't be too long. Chapter 4 will be probably one of the longest chapters. for the most part they might be the length of chapter 3.

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 4

I couldn't make any sense of what Quill had said to me before I fell into this darkness. Well, to be fair I can't make sense of anything right now, much less what Quill meant by the rabbit hole. All I've been doing for the past who knows how long is fall through this darkness like I'm in a bottomless pit or something. It's a weird sensation because I can't see us falling but I sure as heck can feel it. It would suck to have motion sickness right now.

Suddenly I hit a hard ground. I stood up and looked around me. Still pitch black but at least I am no longer falling. I looked around, trying to make sense of… well at this point really anything. Then I heard a voice. It's Quill's! I'm sure of it!

"Welcome Alice, to the rabbit hole!" The voice echoed throughout the darkness. I paused. That phrase again. What does it mean? "Please choose your partner." The voice then said. There was a flash of bright light and I found that there are three Pokemon around me now. To my right was a water type, Manaphy, in front of me was a fire type, Victini, and to my left was a grass type, Shaymin. I looked between the three as the voices boomed again, "Please choose your partner." I bent down and looked more closely at the three. Manaphy seemed a little bored by the whole charade. It didn't even look the slightest interested in my presence. Ok not picking that one. I shifted my gaze to Victini. This guy was like a little ball of energy. He couldn't seem to sit still, moving backwards, forwards, sideways, up, down, diagonal, and in directions that i don't have a name for. Too much energy would be hard for me to handle. Pass. That left Shaymin. I looked over at Shaymin and I could immediately tell she was right for me. Shaymin was very calm, looking happy to be here, bobbing back and forth, but not so much that she was going all over the place. I reached out and pet Shaymin. She let out a cry of joy and nuzzled up to my embrace. I picked Shaymin up and said,

"I pick Shaymin."

"So be it!" A light flashed again and the other two starters had disappeared. "Now let your adventure begin!" I felt myself falling again. Shaymin began to cry out as she was wrenched from my arms, my heavy body falling much faster than hers.

"Shaymin!" I yelled.

"Min!" She screamed back as she desperately tried to catch up to me. The darkness fell away replaced by a blue sky. Shaymin continued to scramble to catch up to me but I was unsure of what to do to help. So instead I flipped over so that I had my belly facing downward and focused on hitting the ground. We were about to land in a meadow of flowers in the middle of a forest. The flowers might cushion our falls but there was no guarantee. I decided to go for it anyway. I tucked myself into a ball and began to spin, hoping this would help break my fall.

I hit the ground hard and exploded from my ball state onto the ground, my back sore from where I landed on it. The flowers had helped some but not as much as I had hoped. I guess it was too much to wish for a soft landing. I felt something hit me in the chest and groaned. I opened my eyes and saw Shaymin curled into a ball of green fur on my chest. I reached out and pet her. She slowly came out of her ball form and chirped at me. I sat up, picked her up into my arms, and then stood up. I had no idea where I was but heck if that was going to stop me from wandering all over the place. I started into the forest without a second thought.

The forest was breathtaking. Light shimmered through the few openings in the trees to reach the deep green floor. The trees were tall, reaching towards the sky as if it were their lifeline, big long roots and branches shooting in every which direction. Leaves were plentiful on the branches and the trees looked plenty healthy. Flowers, bushes, and other plants decorated the floor, creating a dazzling sight as I walked through it all. It was as if I was walking through the Garden of Eden. However, my garden daydream was soon interrupted by a few shouts. Who could be angry in a place like this? I needed to find out.

I picked up the pace to a run and followed the sound of the shouts. I was met with another clearing, but this place was riddled with destruction not beauty. Scorch and evaporation markings scarred the flowers and ground across the meadow. Fires blazed in certain spots across the field, not spreading but certainly killing what it was placed upon. I searched the area for the cause of this destruction and found it in the certain of the clearing. There, an individual holding a trident had another individual on the ground, the weapon aimed at their neck.

The one holding the trident had long black hair with a crown on her (I assumed it was a her) head. She wore a long black and blue dress with white spots across the front. Her fingers were clutched tightly around the trident and anger burned in her blue eyes with a steady flame. She appeared to be an African American given the dark tone of her skin but that was all just a guess to me. Given her current rage I didn't think asking her would be the smartest idea.

The other figure was very different from the trident wielder. From the looks of it, this figure was male and… on fire? His legs had patches of flame on them, as did his chest. Or at least the clothes on them did. He had navy blue hair and his eyes were a bright orange, currently filled with fear and regret. He had on a navy blue hoodie that matched his hair with tan fur around the edge of the hood. His jeans and shirt were the same color as well, but his sneakers were the same tan as the fur on his hoodie. His skin was pale like that of a computer nerd's but he didn't seem like the type to sit behind a computer all day. Still, it was obvious, the boy was terrified.

"Now gijinka," the girl with the trident said, "I banish thee!" She raised up her trident to strike him.

"No!" I shouted. Shaymin jumped down from my arms and released an energy ball. It went flying faster than the eye could detect across the field to the girl, hitting square on the trident. The trident went flying from the girl's hands and stabbed into the ground several feet away. Both heads turned to look at Shaymin and I. Shaymin growled as the girl's expression turned from confusion to rage.

"How dare you!" She screamed, "I was about to execute the guilty! This is treason! For that, you must be punished." I then noticed a few light particles gathering around shaymin as the girl drew her hands together. She closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate, a ball of water forming in front of her. I recognized that move. She was using Hydro Cannon. Well... crap. I began to back towards the forest line but Shaymin didn't follow.

"Shaymin. We need to go." I said. Shaymin didn't budge. She didn't even look at me. The glowing particles grew in size and number around Shaymin. "Shaymin. Come on!" I said louder this time. She shook her head this time and I didn't know what to do. The girl's eyes flew open and I ducked behind a tree for cover as the Hydro Cannon let loose. The ball of blue energy went flying straight for Shaymin. But then, just as I thought Shaymin was a goner, Shaymin released her own attack. A large beam of sunlight erupted from her, bursting through the Hydro Cannon and hitting the girl. She was sent flying into the nearby woods. I stood up from behind my tree and ran over to Shaymin. She burped and a cloud of smoke came out. Shaymin sighed with relief then looked at me with a smile plastered on her face.

"Min! Shaymin!" She said to me triumphantly. I couldn't help but smile at her as I picked Shaymin up.

"You're very strange. You know that?" I said to her. Shaymin just shrugged a little. I walked over to the boy, who was paralyzed with fear on the ground, and gazed at him. His eyes came into focus and he seemed to just be noticing me for the first time. His eyes scanned over me as he took Shaymin and I in. Finally he opened his mouth to speak.

"That was a Solar Beam attack right?" I frowned and looked at Shaymin. She nodded to answer his question. He rubbed his chin and seemed to contemplate Shaymin's answer. "Interesting. A human has tried to save me. That is very unusual. Unless..." The boy looked up at me. "Is this possibly your base test?" He asked.

"How'd you know?" I asked in reply.

"Your appearance is very dream-like. It is somewhat fuzzy looking. Almost like a hologram." He explained, "I have heard of it before but never seen it myself." His eyes suddenly filled with alarm. "Does that mean you have come to kill me?"

"Kill you?" I asked, the shock obvious in my voice. "Why on earth would you think I have come to kill you?" The boy swallowed roughly and nervousness entered his voice very quickly.

"When your kind come to take base tests, usually if they see a gijinka, they kill them. Usually they help those who attack us and befriend them." He explained quietly. I shook my head, appalled by the sight.

"I see no reason to kill you. Unless you have committed a crime worthy of it I don't believe you should die. That woman was a base user was she not?"

"Yes she was."

"And most base testers befriend the base users out here?"

"Yes."

"Well then. How about I don't do that and instead befriend you. Sound good to you?" The boy's eyes began to sparkle with joy and he nodded quickly.

"That would be great. Please. I don't want to die." I extended a hand to him and said,

"I am a defender of the defenseless not a killer of the innocent."

***

"That is very unusual." Dr. Mullins said. He scribbled something down on his clipboard as he watched the TV screen before him. The whole scene was being played on the TV screen for those in the room to watch. Currently, only Dr. Mullins and Quill were in the room to watch.

"I agree. Has this ever happened before?" Quill asked Dr. Mullins as he took the scene in.

"Not that I am aware of Quill. For most, that is their first gijinka kill. Usually the base user they befriend is a purebred, and the DNA base of that purebred determines what their fusion base will be." Dr. Mullins explained without looking back at Quill.

"I remember." Quill replied, "I befriended a Quilava base user." Dr. Mullins nodded. He watched as the gijinka took my hand and I helped him stand up. "Dr. Mullins, I have always wondered. How do you manage to transport our minds into the field?"

"That, Quill, is my little secret." He said, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

***

"So what is your name?" The gijinka, Shaymin, and I all walked through the calm forest. Shaymin currently rested in my left arm. I was carrying the trident in my right hand. I didn't really know how to use it but I felt better being armed with it just in case the others couldn't protect me. At least now I wasn't completely defenseless. The gijinka boy looked over at me, his confusion and curiosity having never left his eyes since the moment I helped his from his doom. He shrugged.

"I don't have one." I stopped walking and stared at him.

"You can't just not have a name." I protested. He shrugged again and said,

"At the Greek Riders, we didn't usually get names unless we're of a higher rank than where I was."

"What rank are you?"

"Were." He corrected, "I was a grunt. You have to be a Head Grunt or higher to have a name."

"I guess you can't go back to them given your use of past tense."

"I could, but I'm not." The boy sighed and looked towards the sky, "I never was very good at my job anyway and no one really liked me. I don't want to go back to a place where I wasn't appreciated, liked, or good at something. With you, I have friends and I can help protect you."

"That means you can have a name then." I concluded, "So go on, pick whatever name you like." The boy smiled a little and closed his eyes, thinking it over.

"I like the name Casey." He finally said. I smiled back at him.

"Well then, it is nice to meet you Casey. My name is Shayla and this is my partner Shaymin."

"Shaymin! Shay! Min! Min!" Shaymin said to him with excitement. Casey laughed and replied,

"Well thank you Shaymin but I should be thanking you. Without your solar beam I would surely be dead." Shaymin smiled and raised her head with an aura of arrogance around her. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh now look what you've done." I hesitated then frowned at Casey.

"Wait can you understand her?" I asked.

"Mm yes. Because gijinka are half pokemon, we can understand their language. The Roman Charioteers only have bases of Pokemon DNA in their body so they can't understand Pokemon. They just hear their calls instead of the actual words." Casey explained. This confused me even more.

"But I can understand Trebble just fine?"

"Who?" Before I can answer there was loud boom and the ground began to shake with such a force that I could not keep my balance. I covered Shaymin with my body and covered my head and neck with my arms. Finally the shaking ceased and I came out of my position. Shaymin had curled into a ball underneath me and Casey had assumed the same position as I. We exchanged confused looks. Neither of us had a clue what had just happened.

"That's her! That's the girl who attacked me!" I suddenly realized what was happening. I couldn't hold back my enthusiasm for our lovely base user's return. That was sarcasm in case you didn't get that. I looked over at the base user and saw she had backup this time. Little girl had to hide behind her friends. No matter. From what I could observe, the two behind her were a fire type and and an electric type. I'm thinking a Raichu and a charizard but they were not full Pokemon so I could not tell.

The three of us split up, the Empoleon girl going for Casey, the charizard chick going for Shaymin, and the Raichu lady coming for me. I spun the trident and lunged for the base user. She punched me in the gut and sent me flying backwards. I gripped the trident and bit my tongue as I slammed back first into the trunk of a tree. I spat blood to the side as I slumped on the ground and didn't see the girl coming until she had me by the neck.

"Not so tough without your Shaymin are you now huh?" She said, crushing my wind pipe with each passing second. My lungs screamed in my ears as the oxygen inside of me ran out. My vision was starting to fray at its edges and in a last ditch effort to save myself, I tried to punch the Raichu girl. Then I realized that I was still holding the trident. I stabbed the girl in her shoulder with the trident. She screamed and reeled back, releasing me. I took a big gulp of air and began to cough as my lungs filled with sweet sweet oxygen.

I tilted my head so I could see my opponent. She was on the ground, trident still in her shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding. Shaymin was nimbly dodging the barrage of attacks the charizard gijinka was delivering. Guess being small can be a good thing. Casey, on the other hand, was handling this much like I was. Which translates to, we're getting our butts handed to us. And that doesn't fit so right with me.

A feeling of something red and hot began to bubble inside of me as I watched the fight in slow motion. I watched as the charizard girl got one good hit in and sent Shaymin sliding across the ground with her body in flames. I watched as Casey became distracted at the sight of Shaymin and I. I watched as the Empoleon girl took this opportunity and cold cocked him. Casey fell to the ground and she pounced on him. I recognized the emotion that began to take its hold on my mind. Rage boiled within in me and I suddenly had the strength to stand. I took a step forward and the ground began to shake. Everyone froze in confusion before magma spouts erupted from the earth. The Empoleon base user scrambled away from Casey and the eruptions set up as a barricade between us and those who wished to bring him harm. The girls fled quickly and the magma slowly seeped back into the ground. My knees gave out from beneath me and I fell to the ground, swallowed in darkness.

***

"Has someone ever done that before?" Quill asked, intrigued at this development.

"No." Dr. Mullins said, "Not without a base which she lacks." He smiled and chuckled. "I can see why the Greek Riders wanted her. She is more powerful than anything I have ever seen."

***

"Shayla?" I groaned a little as my name echoed in my head. It took me a moment to realize who the voice saying my name belonged to. It was Casey. Everything suddenly came flooding back and my eyes snapped open. I started to sit up but Casey pushed me down.

"Shaymin!"

"What she said." Casey added, "Just wait a few more minutes. That seemed to take a lot out of you."

"But what did I do?" I asked. I was so confused. The earth erupted when I got mad. Had it really reacted to my emotions? No way. I don't have a base yet. I couldn't have done that. Could I?

"I…" Casey sighed and bit his lip. "I'm not sure. I think you did it because Shaymin and I didn't do it. We just assumed you somehow used Earth Power."

"Like the pokemon move?"

"Exactly."

"But I have no base. This is my base test. How can I use a move without a base?"

"Is it possible you already have one?"

"No. Not a chance."

We lapsed into silence at my negation of his theory. But the facts were still there. I wasn't your normal human being. I somehow could tap into a base I didn't have yet. No one else had ever done it. So why could I?

Finally Casey stood up. He offered his hand to me and I took it. He helped me stand up and I picked up Shaymin. We resumed our trek. Then it hit me. I didn't have a clue as to where I was supposed to be going. Oh well. Straight was better than nothing I suppose. Worse case… I wasn't truly sure. Ask a tree for directions? Meh. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that had occurred these past two days. So we walked. And we walked. And we walked a little more. And we walked some more. And we kept walking. Slowly the sun began to sink and the sky began to turn orange. My stomach growled a little bit and I sighed. We weren't making any progress. I wasn't sure was to do.

"We should find shelter soon." Casey said. I nodded and added,

"Food and water as well." Casey began to search around us. Finally he settled on a large patch of tangled grass. He walked over to it and cracked his knuckles.

"Alright. Let's see if this still works." Casey said. He held his hands out to the tangled grass patch and his hands began to glow green. The patch of grass glowed in response and slowly opened. After a minute, both sets of glowing ceased. Casey ducked inside the opening for a minute before coming back out. "Looks good enough to me. Come on in." He said. I ducked inside after Casey and gasped. This place was a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared. Grass made up the walls but the floor was all twigs tied together to make a solid floor. The entrance closed behind us. Casey touched the wall and three beds made of leaves grew from the floor, each custom to the user. When he finished, Casey looked to me. "Is this ok?"

"Yes. But what about food and water?" Casey nodded and touched the wall again. Berries began to grow from the walls and a small spring bubbled up from part of the floor. Another hole opened in the floor on the opposite side of the room from the spring. When I have Casey a confused look he just shrugged and said,

"We all have the need." I frowned but I understood what he meant. Slowly twigs and leaves grew around the hole so that whomever needed to use it had some privacy which was better than nothing I guess. With that taken care of, Casey stopped doing whatever he was doing and looked over the bush.

"What move is that?" I asked.

"Secret power." Casey replied, "Allows me to do these kind of things in certain bushes, trees, and mountains. Cool huh?"

"Very useful." I agreed. I picked one of the berries from the wall and chewed it. It tasted great. I watched as Casey went to the spring and took a drink before heading to the hole. I picked a few more berries then laid down on my bed. I ate them while staring at the ceiling, my mind beginning to wander. I couldn't help but wonder what everyone else was doing. Was time only passing here or was it passing there too? So many unanswerable questions flew through my mind I lost count of how many very quickly.

"What's it like being a gijinka?" I asked quietly. Casey looked over at me from his bed. He then stared at the ceiling, pondering my question. He shrugged and sighed. I could tell he wasn't sure how to answer.

"It's odd. Especially when you're a grunt gijinka."

"How so?"

"Well, grunts have their memories wiped when they are made Gijinkas so we don't rebel against the admins and such. Most grunts act like mindless drones because of this."

"You don't though."

"No. I don't."

"Why?" Casey but the inside of his cheek and continued to focus on the ceiling.

"There was a glitch in the system." He said. Casey took a deep breath and began to tell me a story.

[Noblejanobii]

Alright here's my update for now since I plan to go to sleep soon I want to post this now rather than later.

So, here's chapter 4. It's… I guess a little long. I wanted to make it longer but then I decided that it was long enough and that chapter 5 would be a backstory chapter. I did end up splitting this event up. I originally did plan for chapter 4 to be huge with Shayla's whole base test encompassed in it but I think splitting it up into smaller parts might be the wiser choice for now. Chapter 5 will be shorter most likely but since I've only barely started it for now I can't say that for sure.

That being said, I only have two days of my winter break left. I go back to school on January 5 and my exams start January 12. I am also participating on my school's basketball team and we do have games and practices all this week and the week following and so on until February. With that said, I probably will be much slower in updating from here on out and you will more than likely not see an update for the next two weeks as I take my exams and such. However, I will be out of school starting January 16-19, so I will hopefully be able to get an update that weekend worse case. I would like to get chapter 5 up before I go back to school but it depends on inspiration and such as well as how much time I have this weekend.

Anyway, thanks to the people who read this. Special thanks to Pokemon trainer Sarah and Suicune's Fire for commenting. Without you guys commenting I probably wouldn't update as frequently as I do. Keep that up please. Also, if I have typos, and you spot them, feel free to let me know. I try to catch those but since I usually write these stories at midnight (hence my title moonlight writer) I tend to make mistakes. Thank you! And have a good day!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Yay new chapter! I guess I should have seen the Shaymin thing coming... 'Shay'la! xD I do wonder what other Pokemon are involved though. :) The place they're in seems pretty interesting. I'm wondering if the other people are all real or part of the test or what. :O

I thought the use of Secret Power was great too! Its fun to think of Pokemon making their own secret bases. xD

Good luck with your exams and everything!

[Noblejanobii]

Lol yeah, when I originally made Shayla she had a different name that showed what pokemon she was a fusion of. Back then she was just a fusion pokemon and the Tri-kappa labs story was completely different. But I ended up shortening her name when I came up with this story so that it was more human like. The 'la' part of her name is the first two letters of the suffix of her original name which would tell you what she will be a fusion of.

As for whether the test location and people are real or not… well that would be spoilers but I can say this. It originally was going to be one option, but then I thought it would be more fun to have it be the other. So yeah!

Lol well I actually got the idea for secret power while I was visiting some secret bases in Omega Ruby so I was like hey I can incorporate this! It was fun to let Casey create the secret base and take some liberties with it while I was at it. Also, mechanic that I have also implemented. A secret base maker can create as many bases as they want and the bases won't disappear so long as they don't want them to.

Thanks Sarah. I need to pull up some of my grades because I'm starting to look at colleges and I need the grades if I want to get into my dream college. Hopefully I won't fail them.

[Noblejanobii]

Just an update to let my like two readers know the obvious. I haven't finished chapter five. It is taking longer than expected but to be fair I am putting much more detail into it than I expected. I will work on it when I can but no promises as to when it will show up because my exams start next week and I need to review.

[Suicune's Fire]

Had I not heard the gunshots mere minutes ago, I could have sworn there was nothing wrong.

I was under the impression that the gunshots happened seconds ago, rather than minutes. A minute is a long time in these situations. If you meant minutes, I would suggest specifying so that we're aware of the time.


Bang! Bang! Bang! I spun around as I heard a loud banging against the front door downstairs.

"spun" and "span" are still words I get mixed up, but the correct term in this sentence should be "span." The use of "spun" would only be appropriate in the case of past tense, past participle. For instance, "she had spun around," but "she span around." So the addition of "had" changes it form "span" to "spun." The same rules apply to "swam" and "swum."


"Open up!" A loud masculine voice yelled, "You are now under the rule of the Greek Riders!

I noticed in later chapters that you have the same understanding of grammar in speech as what you display here, so I'm going to go ahead and teach you a bit about it. (Sorry if that sounded horribly condescending; I didn't mean for that at all.)

With speech, you have to look at it like it's a continual part of the sentence you're writing--because it is. Therefore, you need to use commas and capitals as if there were no quotations around the speech at all. This should be:



"Open up!" a loud masculine voice yelled. "You are now under the rule of the Green Riders!"

See the lowercase 'a' I put in there? And then the full stop at the end of "yelled"? Regardless of an exclamation mark or a question mark at the end of speech, unless it's the end of the sentence, then the following words which aren't part of the speech must have a lowercase and be a continuing sentence. If it's not a ! or a ? then you need a comma, and NOT a period. A period is only to be used at the end of speech if it marks the end of a sentence. I'll make some examples for you from the next chapter (and I'm putting an end quotations on the end for simplicity).



"Yeah." I said, "Job wise at least."

See how the period at the end of "yeah" cuts off the sentence? You should switch around the comma and the period so it looks like this:



"Yeah," I said. "Job wise at least."

Or, if you wanted it to continue as one sentence, have two commas and a lowercase J for "job."



"Yeah," I said, "job wise at least."

Do you see how that works? And if you were to use a word that wasn't a proper noun following the "Yeah," then it'd be a lowercase. Like this:



"Yeah," said the girl, "job wise at least."

If this doesn't make much sense, then try removing the quotations. If you have the period after "yeah" then it's a fragmented sentence, right? Because it's like sticking a random period in the middle of a regular sentence. I hope this all makes sense. :]


We are collecting tributes under the age of 25

In stories, especially in speech, you need to write out numbers as words.


Planning my jump, I failed to notice another person standing on the ground maybe twenty below me. That was a fatal mistake on my part.

I'm having a slight issue with this sentence. The story is from first-person perspective, right, but this implies that she is telling a story that already happened, rather than living it as it is written. If it was from third-person then it would make more sense, but right now, I'm not sure what the style is and if she's telling it back to us or not.

The whole "telling the story back" idea through first person would explain why there was a little bit of a lack of emotions, I felt, in this first chapter. It was also extremely short. I felt like you could have had more of an intro to the character before jumping into the action, although action is always good too. I wanted to know more about what the character was feeling, as it felt a little 'telling' and not 'showing'. I do like your writing style, however, and it's so nice to see another story on PXR! There's been a severe lack of ongoing stories here, so I definitely hope to see this one continue.

I'm keen to read more, and I'm so sorry to took me so long to post this review! I've only read one chapter and a bit of chapter two, and after I've read more, I'll be able to give a more detailed recount of my opinions. :]

[Noblejanobii]

Suicune's Fire
Ok I'm going to try and answer this in the same order you did but I'm not going to be quoting you because that'll be overwhelming and time consuming on my phone.

1) In regards to the whole minutes thing, you have to understand the concept of time. It didn't take her seconds to jump from her bed, make her way across the room, and get to the window then look around. Someone would have to have like super speed (which Shayla lacks). Therefore, it would be minutes because these actions do take time therefore minutes would be the correct term here, not seconds.

2) I have never heard of this before so this is new to me. Thank you for the correction.

3) I have also never heard of this grammatical error either. I'll fix that as well.

4) I tend to write in a form that people would speak. this means that it is not always grammatically correct. It contains fragments and odd sentences all around. This is how people around me talk so this is how I write how people speak.

5) I have a habit of switching between number and letter form when writing numbers. It's a habit that I am trying to break but sometimes I slip up.

6) I am uncomfortable in writing in present tense. My writing does not flow as well that way. My sentences become choppy and chapters become significantly shorter with a lot less descriptiveness. I tried for several years to write in present tense but I was not improving at all. In fact I became worse. My english teacher last year recommended I try past tense instead. This, in my opinion as well as those of the english teachers around school, believe that it flows much better now, as well as allows for some flexibility. She's telling in the first person which allows for me to include emotions and personal thoughts but it's in past tense so it flows better. It is my writing style and I like it so I doubt I will change it any time soon.

7) As for the short first chapter, when I write stories, I tend to try to hook readers with the first chapter. I make it short, sweet, and suspenseful, which tends to draw people in. Then I flesh out everything in the following chapters. Never have I read a book where an author tells you everything about the character in the first chapter. That tends to take away from the mystery. I introduce my characters piece by piece so that while you may not know them at all within the first chapters, you'll be learning about them the entire story.

NOTE: If I ever seen rude when I am responding to criticisms I apologize. I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not used to be criticized. Most people that read my stories for some odd reason love them. It is only this year that I've actually been challenged in my writing skills. That being said, I'm not always sure how to respond to corrective criticism. I am thankful for all writing tips since I do plan to make my living on writing and the more tips I get the better I will be.

[Suicune's Fire]

No worries. :] I'll do that too because it's easier even on a computer. xD And I'll leave the response black so it's easier to read, ahaha.

1. Oh, I do understand the concept of time. What I was saying is that there wasn't a clearly specified amount of time in the story in order for us to understand where everything is. For instance, my bed is literally right beside my window so it would take me seconds to get there, and I don't have super speed. xD The thing is, you described it in such a short number of words that there's no way we could tell that it took minutes. If you described it in a lot more detail and made it clear how long it took, then I'd understand it taking minutes. I'm not trying to tell you that it only took her seconds; I'm just saying that with the way it's currently laid out, it's hard to grasp how much time went by. There is no way that "I got out of bed and walked to the nearest window" is going to tell us how long it took her, or how quiet she was trying to be, or how scared she was while she was doing it, or maybe the deliberation when she was trying to make the decision to move or not, etc. All I'm saying is, clarity makes everything better. :]

2. No worries! Trust me, I have had issues upon issues with "swam" and "swum" and all similar words. xD You're not alone.

3. No worries. I also had no clue about it when I first started posting stories online until someone from the old pokemon forum explained it to me. x)

4. I understand that, but there's a difference between writing out intonation and using correct, absolute grammar in certain places--like at the end of the sentence. All of those quotes were just me explaining my initial speech grammar point. x)

5. That's okay. ^^ I just wanted to remind you.

6. Ohhh, oh no, that's not what I meant at all. I HATE present tense. I find it horribly uncomfortable to write and to read. Past tense is still happening newly as the story progresses, though. In past tense, it's not a character looking back on the past and recounting events--that's not what it means, and I'm sure you know that. I'm stating that how could a person know without hindsight what was about to happen? It would be like me sitting here at my desk now, typing on my computer. How do I know that in five seconds, my bed could explode? I don't. Because it hasn't happened yet. So unless she's telling a story to someone after she's already lived it, then her knowing about the guy outside her window doesn't make sense. (Also I was talking about perspective, not tense, but tense is important too. xD)

7. That's also not what I meant. xD I just meant maybe an indication of her personality, what she looks like, or how she thinks. I don't mean give away her backstory. xD I just mean surface things as a character introduction.

Sorry if my review was confusing; I think a lot of things I said came across as unclear and were easy to misinterpret. I hope I cleared some things up in this response though. And don't worry, I didn't think you were rude. x) I have been reviewing people's pokemon stories online for years and years now, so I've heard all sorts of responses when I've reviewed stories. I always quote every error I find so I can help the author improve and so that specific errors can be ironed out. Trust me, I'd only do this to help. I feel bad when I read people's stories and don't point out the errors, because then how is one supposed to improve? But anyway, I'm glad you found it helpful. Don't worry--I didn't mean that I don't like your writing! It really did draw me in despite my corrections, so don't worry about that. :] A few sentences in, I could already tell that you were a good writer.

Anyway, I hope to get around to more of it soon. x) The concept sounds really cool so far. Please don't be discouraged by anything I say. :] I do truly only mean to help you improve!

[Noblejanobii]

1. That's true. And actually in my room, I can look out my window without even sitting up in my bed so I was a bit iffy with that descriptiveness. Like I said elsewhere I tend to keep the first chapter of a story short but also try to hook someone in so a lot of descriptiveness doesn't come in until the second chapter.

2. Like I didn't even know that span (in this definition) was a word. Like I knew time span but I have never ever heard someone say that before. Like I have a guy who narrates his actions and he says spun all the time.

3. It doesn't help that the device I usually type this on (my phone) autocorrects it. That's also why there are some weird wording errors sometimes (like I know there's one when Sloane is talking in chapter 3) because my phone autocorrects it.

4. Oh yeah and thanks for that! I appreciate all correction. I was just explaining that this is the dialect I'm used to so I feel more comfortable writing in this form. However when people are from different cultures I try to change the dialect to fit them but usually I fail at it.

5. Yes thank you. I need to stop doing that. Now sometimes I find it's justified. One example I can give is if they said like "He is a Generation 3." That's like an experiment number so I feel like in that case it would be ok because it's like a title. But in the case you're talking about you're absolutely right.

6. Oh! I completely missed that! Yeah I understand what you mean now. To be honest I can't remember why I added that. Possibly to create more suspense or something. I wrote that at like 3 am though so who knows what I was thinking.

7. Right right. Like I said before I generally just try to hook people in the first chapter then introduce you to everyone in the second and following chapters. I'm not sure why to be honest but it's what I've always done.

Well thank you! And what I meant was like if I'm having a bad day I tend to snap at people, especially critics. I was actually know on another website many years ago for cursing out a critic when they just caught me on a really bad day. Also, expect that chapter 5 will still have some of these errors because I've been writing it for a while and I don't catch everything. Chapter 6 will be better, I promise.

[Suicune's Fire]

1. Yeah, and, I mean, she could have a large gap between her bed and her window, but I don't know. Yeah, that makes sense. Still, a few tiny details can sometimes make all the difference. x)

2. Yep. xD I think it's not as commonly used as spun. Maybe 'spun' is correct in both cases... I dunno. My dictionary thinks it's "archaic" so I suppose that means not many people use it anymore. In that case, I'm wrong. xD

3. Nuuuuuu! You write stories on your phone? So you don't have, say, Word documents and such? Ooh girl... I would very strongly recommend against that! D: And using PXR on phones is a pain, I find. xD I never use mobile versions of sites because they're lame, but then when I use the regular version, it's harder to navigate and do anything. XD

4. No worries! And yeah, whatever dialect and accents is fine. xD I just mean grammar. :] And nuu, I'm sure you don't fail! It's not easy sometimes anyway. x) Try not to be too hard on yourself.

5. Yes, I think that's justified. x) I've been told that long numbers aren't necessary to type out, but yeah, something like "it was twenty five metres from the door" definitely requires typing out. In the case of an experiment, yeah, I think the number is fine. x)

6. Ah okay. XD No worries! I like to raise points to make people think sometimes.

7. That's okay. ^^ Even if I give you something to think about, that's all I really aim for. :D

No worries. 8D Oh wow, really? xD That's not good! Thinking about it though, it sounds like a good character flaw. xD Are you gonna go back and edit the errors? That's what I intended, as well as taking what I say for the future. I've edited chapters so many times...ahaha. And hey, even though I correct people's stories all the time, I always miss errors of my own in my writing. xD Always. It's like I'm immune to their corruptible charms. XD

[Noblejanobii]

1. Right. When I have time I'll go back and shape up chapter 1. I want to get the next chapter up first though. That's my main priority though.

2. Well it's definitely something that I need to know and I'll be more careful in the future about it.

3. Oh I do have word, but on my computer. The reason I do it on my phone is because I have inspiration strike at the oddest times, usually like 1-2am, and I don't have access to a computer then. Because I have my phone on my person 24/7, it's just more convient for me. However, I can access the stories on my computer through my email so some parts are typed on my computer but not all.

4. Well other dialects and accents are just hard so I usually do pretty bad with them.

5. I was told that from 100 up, you can do numbers. But anything below that has to be typed out.

6. Yes and it is something that will more than likely be helpful to me in the future.

7. Well you've achieved that goal.

Oh I totally plan to go back and make changes. I just want to get the next chapter out first. I probably won't be able to do much until like next Friday though because I have exams (in case you haven't seen me mention that before). But I do plan to go back and make some changes, I just have other priorities at that moment. And yeah, it's a pretty funny flaw sometimes but it makes me somewhat unpopular as a writer because i snap at people.

[Suicune's Fire]

1. Yeah, that sounds great. ^^ I have a few things to do today, but I plan to remain at home, so I'll see if I can read some more and review it too. :D I'll probably not comment on repeated errors (such as speech grammar) which I've already pointed out, but I might just do a reminder per chapter or something. xD We'll see!

2. Ah, that's okay. I mean, as important as grammar is, the importance of a decent story trumps it!

3. Ahh well that's great! I like that phones have the capability to help with random inspiration strikes. xD Personally I have difficulty typing on my phone most of the time (and autocorrect makes me fume) so I always try to keep my fingers on a keyboard. xD

4. I think accents are pretty subjective in a story. To be honest, I often get a little frustrated when people make major speech changes to cater for an accent. I do, however, like simple things like cutting out words or alternate word arrangement (i.e. "How you do today?") or apostrophes in the place of a g in a word ending with "ing" (i.e. "Are we playin' soon?") and also condensed phrases like "going to" into "gonna" or "want to" into "wanna." So yeah...accent stuff isn't too crucial, I don't think. x) It's hard to write an accent.

5. That makes sense. x) I suppose it's up to preference once the numbers climb.

6. Okay, that's good. :D

7. That is also good! XD

I think that's a good plan. Absolutely! Take your time. x) No rushes here. And haha, well, if I ever see you snap at me, I'll take it as a bad day and not hold it against you. XD

[Noblejanobii]

1. Yes like I said, chapter 6 will be the chapter where you'll see changes most likely. I'll go back and edit the five once I've post all five but chapter 6 will automatically have the fixes.

2. True. Plot before romance as my friends and I say. Unless the romance is part of the plot.

3. I can type just as effectively on both. I actually type more accurately on a computer and can type without looking at the keyboard. I can do that on a phone too but it is just less accurate not too mention the autocorrect often corrects at the worst moments. Still, it is helpful sometimes. But it works out since I can access it from both I can use one platform if I lack access to the other.

4. Yeah. You probably won't see much here when it comes to accents or stuff like that. I try to make people sound a bit different though so they may talk differently but beyond that you won't see much unless I deem it necessary.

5. Yeah I guess.

Well I tend to have a habit of abandoning stories and such if I feel like it's not worth working on. whether this means it's too much work or not enough support I tend to drop them so I'm trying to not do that with this one because I actually have fans for once. And yes, please do. I never try to be mean to someone, it just happens.

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 5

6 years prior…

A short thirteen year old boy shuffled forward, his eyes cast towards the ground, and his arms cuffed behind his back. Long black hair hung in his face, hatred burning in his bright blue eyes. Blood trickled down his fingertips from where the plastics cuffs had cut into his wrists. However, the boy did not care. Why should he? Anything was better than death by hanging. Anything, or so he thought.

I can remember only so far back. What they did to me did destroy some of my memories, but the rest, what they did to me, and what they did to those I knew, all still burn bright inside of my mind. As I grow older the memories from further back begin to fade, so I struggle to remember something from when I was only thirteen. But I will do my best to recount it.

The boy was shoved roughly into a cold solid white room by the guard behind him. He was forced into the chair and cuffed to it. The boy growled at the guard and strained against his cuffs, but it only cut into his wrists more, which made the guard smirk as blood continued to pour from the boy's body. The guard licked his lips and fangs were barely visible. A shiver crawled up the boy's spine at that and he froze as the guard smiled, fangs peeking out from over his lips.

"What are you?" The boy whispered. The guard only chuckled and did not answer. The door on the other side of the room opened and a tall man stepped in. He was bald, not a speck of hair on his head. Large frameless glasses encircled his beady black eyes. His nose was large, twitching ever so slightly and the man appeared to have… were those rat whiskers? He was dressed in a large white lab coat, khakis, and a white shirt. His shoes were black and meant for church not for a lab. The man leaned into the table, his unnaturally long nails clicking as each one hit the tabletop. The man smiled at the boy and asked,

"A delinquent?"

"I'm not delinquent." The boy replied sourly.

"Your record says otherwise. It claims you murdered three people." The man said.

"I was framed!" The boy snapped, straining against his chair. Suddenly white hot electricity began to course through his body. The boy stiffened and cried out in pain, his body stretching unnaturally to try and escape the pain. Finally the pain stopped and the boy slumped back into his chair, eyes barely open. The man shook his finger at the boy with a crooked smile on his face.

"Now now, there is no need for that. I am merely here to help you."

"I don't need any help."

"Oh I think you do. Being sentenced to hanging is not a positive ordeal you see. I can guarantee you won't come out of it alive. With me, however, you can achieve great things and I can make all your pains disappear with the flick of a finger."

I will admit that at the time, the deal seemed very tempting. I mean, I had been framed for the murder of three people, not to mention the electricity that had just been shot through me and the cuffs that were going to be cutting into my bones by the time the ordeal was over. Having someone take that all away… it was something that I couldn't just refuse. Despite that one part of me saying something was off about this, I continued on towards my doom.

"If you can make my pains disappear, then yeah I'll help you." The boy said. The man smiled with a devilish sort of look.

"Excellent." He said with a chuckle in his voice. The hairs began to rise on the back of the boy's neck. He started to ask a question but the words froze in his throat as a needle was jammed into his neck. A liquid was emptied from the syringe into the boy's bloodstream. His eyes slowly closed and he was unconscious soon enough.

I don't know what happened while I was unconscious. Time had to have passed but I couldn't tell you how much or what they had done to me. All I can remember is the extreme pain I felt while I was swimming through the darkness that was my drugged mind. Fire seemed to be consuming my entire body from the inside out. My body was changing, marking appearing on my arms, legs, and back. My hair changed from a jet black to the blue it is now. Soon enough, fire would escape my lips if I was angry enough. When I woke up, time had passed, but I'll never know exactly how much. I just know it was a long time, several years probably, because I went in as a thirteen year old, and when I came out I was seventeen.

The now young man's body fell from where it was being held up. His bright blue eyes were clouded over like the sky on a foggy day. His mind was still numbed from the drugs he had been fed while he was being experimented on. He barely registered the small prick of pain that tingled from his neck when a needle was pushed in. The syringe dumped its contents into the young man's body, then he was dragged away from the lab. The syringe's fluids made the young man feel even worse, even more numb, and it gave him the urge to just let go of his mind. But he didn't like that. Somewhere inside his body, the spark of fight that lived inside his mind attacked the mind-controlling fluids that had entered this man's body. It subdued them and the subject now became a glitch.

Awareness began to filter through the boy's mind and his eyes opened a little wider. He began to scan his surroundings curiously, wondering where he was... or who he was. There was only one thing he knew for sure, he was not supposed to be this aware. He was supposed to be in a numb state, but he wasn't. The young man decided to act just as he was supposed to be, a mindless drone. The guards continued to drag him down the long silver metal hallways until they reached a long corridor lined with black doors. They took him to one that had the number 310 on it. A guard caught the young man's face and said in a robotic voice,

"You are now Grunt 310. Stay in your quarters and await further orders." With that the guards opened the doors and threw the young man inside. He slid across the metal ground and hit the wall on the other side of the room. He bit back any signs of pain he felt. No doubt there were cameras in this place and any sign that he wasn't what he was supposed to be could bust him. He stood up slowly, trying to make his movements look controlled. He observed his room making notes that there was only a bed and a toilet, but that the lights in the ceiling most likely contained cameras.

I remember that it felt like hours passed. All I did was sit on my bed and occasionally get up to use the bathroom. That was it. I knew I needed to act my part as the drone but as time when on it became harder for me to resist the urge to explore. That is when it hit me. They were testing me. A drone would not explore. Someone with awareness would. With that realization, I just let my mind wander. I think I fell asleep at some point in time. All I can remember next is getting into the groove.

The young man opened his eyes as a low pitched buzzing filled his ears. He sat up slowly and turned his head towards the door. The door slid open as he stood up. A guard motioned for the young man to follow him. They walked down the long corridor to what seemed to be a training area. The young man held back his shock at the sheer amount of people... if that is what they could be called in the area. He wasn't sure they were people though. They were flying, bending water, some controlling the earth, while others manipulated the shadows. It was mind boggling and it took every ounce of the young man's restraint to not show any signs of his emotions. The guard led the young man through the room to the center where a woman stood. Her back was to them currently and she was conversing with another man. They turned to face us when the guard cleared his throat.

The woman was tall but the young man suspected that a large portion of her height might be due to the fact that her red heels were several inches tall. She was dressed in all red, orange, and yellow. She had a red short dress that barely covered what it needed to cover, an orange belt strapped around her waist. Her skin was white like snow, which was somewhat amusing to the young man, because she seemed to represent fire yet she had the quality of ice on her. Her hair was a bright orange, done up so that it looked like a rising flame and added to the tall appearance. Her lips were lush, large, and bright red. The young man found them disgusting. Lips that large only meant that this woman was no virgin and the young boy had a sneaky suspicion as to whom she was selling herself to. But her yellow eyes hidden under her red shades gave no signal as to this side of her. This woman was well guarded and she was powerful. The young man could feel her power from the aura around her, but he felt that most of it came from the two gems that hung around her neck. They had unique patterns, one blue and black, the other yellow and orange. These two gems held the young man's interest, but he forced himself to not look at them and instead focus on the man now.

The aura around him was filled with the chills, the opposite of the woman. His hair was spiked and solid black like the young man's had once been. He was tall, taller than the woman and had a skin tone that, ironically, suggested he spent much of his time in the heat. Everything else about the man was white or blue. His long flowing robes were white and blue, the colors of ice. His shoes were also blue. His breath was white like ice as well. The man had sunglasses over his eyes and the young man had a suspicion as to why his eyes needed to be hidden.

"Is he the newest one?" The woman finally asked after several minutes of silence had passed. The guard grunted.

"He is. Also, he was a delinquent in a past life." The guard added.

"Oh? What was he convicted for?"

"Murder." The woman began to laugh with glee.

"My favorite kind of crime." She said. The man smirked.

"Now now, Hyrella, I thought I was your favorite crime." He said. The woman, Hyrella, smiled lustfully at the man.

"Oh but Hyoto, you are on a whole other level than what I am talking about." The guard cleared his throat again and interrupted the creepy conversation, much to the relief of the young man.

"Where shall he be placed?" The guard asked.

"What kind of a gijinka is he?" Hyoto asked in return.

"Quilava, grunt level." The guard replied.

"Combat experience?" Hyrella asked.

"He was a second degree black belt in Taekwondo and a red belt in Karate. He also fought in some mixed martial arts fights." The guard answered. The young man put this information in a file in his brain. This might be important someday. The mentions of these martial arts did bring some of his forms and moves back to the surface of his mind for now, but the faces were blurred out of his memories.

"Put him in the level 3 class." The two admins said at the same time. The guard nodded with a grunt and lead the young man to an elevator. They went up three floors then exited to a training area. Here it appeared the grunt gijinkas were training in stamina and speed. The guard shoved the young man into one of the training areas where he was met with yet another aware gijinka. This one had the rank of Mellem, the rank between Ace Grunt and Rookie Admin. The young man gazed at the Mellem, trying to discern the gijinka he was.

His hair was a blue green, a yellow band tying back the long locks from handing in his face. He was tall, almost seven feet if the young man had to guess. His skin was dark like the Mellem had lived in the tropics for most of his life. He was also shirtless. A green cloth that looked like the lower half of a toga covered him from the waist down, and the young man could not see the Mellem's feet. The Mellem's eyes were brown like wet soil. Golden jewelry covered him where it could. He had an ornate necklace, different patterns and such carved into the gold. The necklace started halfway down his neck wrapping like a serpent around it. Then, when it reached the top of his torso, it swept out into a wave like shape with stars, Suns, and other patterns carved into it, and in some places these patterns were cut into the metal so deeply that it showed the brown of the Mellem's skin. It stopped just before it hit his mid chest, but small gold chains hung down further, jingling as he moved. He also had various bracelets on his arms, at least three on each, along with a long golden chain ear ring hanging from his left ear. Black tattoos covered his brown skin as well, covering him with images that perplexed the young man, for he was unsure of their true meaning.

"This is your latest grunt. Test his abilities. The admins want to see how strong he is." The guard said gruffly.

"Another delinquent?" The Mellem guessed with a resigned look on his face.

"Yes. Convicted for the murder of three."

"Maybe we should let him visit the Hanging Tree." The Mellem joked. It fell flat with the guard leaving the Mellem to be the only one laughing. He quickly stopped and took the young man's arm. "What is his title?"

"He has not been assigned one yet. Currently his incomplete title is Tri since he is part of the Tri-Generation. When we figure out his level he will be given a full title."

With that the guard left and the Mellem frowned. He shook his head and looked at the young man. His eyes scanned over him quietly then said,

"You hold great potential. My name is Obranzy." The young man just stared at his superior. Obranzy narrowed his eyes and looked over the young man again. He pursed his lips then cast a glance over his shoulder. The young man started to follow Obranzy's gaze but Obranzy suddenly grabbed the young man's arm. "Come with me." He said quietly, pulling the young man out of the training area and into a smaller room, a storage closet if the young man had to guess. Obranzy made sure the door was locked so no one else could come in, then he faced the young man. "You don't play the role of a mindless being very well." Obranzy said. The young man bit his tongue hard to prevent himself from reacting, but Obranzy wasn't convinced. "You keep a still body and face very well, but your emotions are reflected in your eyes. They give you away. You need to train yourself to act like everyone else." The young man let out a sigh. He knew his cover was blown.

"I'm new to this. I didn't exactly train to be a mindless zombie when I was growing up." The young man drew his brows together and frowned. "I don't think I did at least. I can't really remember." Obranzy nodded and sighed.

"Ah, you're a Grade 2 resistance." He said. When the young man gave him a perplexed look, Obranzy chuckled. "You don't become mindless but you do lose many of your memories. The more they inject you with that serum the more memories you lose." Obranzy saw the pain of the sentence sink in and he put his hand firmly on the young man's shoulder. "Don't worry. All you have to remember is that the Greek Riders are not the good guys." The young man nodded in response, his mind still trying to process all of this. All his thoughts were whirling around, moving too fast for him to grasp even a single syllable. Still, the young man knew that this Obranzy might be his only chance to get out of here alive.

"If it means if I survive this Hell, then I'll listen to you."

From there on, Obranzy and I made an alliance. Obranzy would train me to act like the other mindless and I would work to focus on holding onto my memories. It was a long time before tragedy struck. By the time it hit us, neither of us saw it coming. We became cocky, thinking our covers were full proof. What we didn't realize is that those on the Level Omega could see right through those of us on Level Gamma. Despite all my training, my costume wasn't good enough. My eyes were my weakness, they are my weakness, and because of them, I lost my only friend.

The young man turned and froze in place when he saw that guards were headed straight towards Obranzy. They grabbed him from behind and quickly had cuffs on him and a gun to his head.

"What is the meaning of this?" Obranzy yelled as he was dragged to the center of the room where all could see him. Now everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and was watching Obranzy with the guards.

"Obranzy Teleski, you have been placed under arrest for harboring traitors. The penalty for your crime is death. However, your sentence can be lowered if you point out all of the Awares to us." The guard said, rattling off his whole speech in a robot-like fashion. Obranzy didn't move, he didn't look up, he didn't look anywhere. He just sat very still. Both of us knew that if he moved even a little bit he would give away those of us that he was protecting.

The young man stood very still, trying to keep his body under control. This was hard for him and he knew he wasn't the only one straining to keep their emotions under control. The young man was well aware that other gijinkas like him had been protected by Obranzy. He had no idea who they were, but he knew that they were here, in this crowd, and they were struggling too.

Silence held tight over the training area. Tension crawled over every individual and no one dared to move lest all of Hell break free. However, despite everyone's fears, the click of a gun echoed throughout the hall as the guard put it on Obranzy's temple and prepared to shoot. Obranzy didn't seem to be phased by the cold metal pressed against his head. He was the bravest man in the room and had probably known this would happen eventually. He had probably trained himself everyday to not like his emotions show when the day of his demise would come. Now, it had come and his training was paying off for him. Finally his mouth twitched upward at the corners and Obranzy gave a small smile.

"You people know no loyalty. You treat humans like trash and as experiments, killing those who won't listen to you. But one day those who don't listen to you will be your fall! The Greek Riders will meet their end and I will be laughing from the edge of Purgatory as all of your souls burn in-" A shudder ran up the young man's spine as he watched the bullet enter Obranzy's skull. His eyes were glassy by the time his body had hit the floor. Everyone was very still, not one lung breathed and not one muscle twitched. Fear had its grip on the hall and it was suffocating each individual. The guard swept his gaze over the crowd observing the ordeal. Occasionally he would slow in his sweep, and the young man felt himself almost choke when the guard made eye contact with him.

"Soldiers," the guard growled to those following him, "seize the Awares." The soldiers began to weed their way through the crowd in different directions. Everyone was frozen until a girl's scream scrapped against the wall of the training hall, followed by the sound of a gun shot. That's when everything Obranzy had taught the Awares went out the window. The young man along with many others began to make a break for it, dashing for the doors for some way out. At first, a glimmer of hope spread through them as they approached the doors. But then that hope died as quickly as it came, the training hall going into lockdown mode. Large metal sheets closed down over every window, door, or potential escape route. More screams, male and female, went up throughout the crowd, gunshots soon following the screams. Many of the Awares began to bang on the metal sheets, trying to find or beat a way through, but it was no use. The soldiers had cornered them and they were all dead meat.

The young man bit his lip as his back hit the cold metal of the lockdown door sheets. He knew that he was dead meat now, as well as the roughly twenty others that stood with him. Dozens of corpses laid on the ground on the other side of the wall of soldiers. Slowly, the young man felt rage begin to boil within his stomach. It began to rise up and hit his heart before pumping through his veins into the rest of his body. His next breath gave a little spark of fire. He was seething, angry that Obranzy was dead, angry that they had made him lose his memories, and angry that this company had made him into a monster. Well, if they wanted a monster, they were going to get one.

The young man took in a deep breath, his lungs heating up the air inside of his body before he unleashed it in a large whoosh of flames. The soldiers retreated a little, not having expected someone to fight back. The other Awares seemed to have a similar reaction, but already being pressed against a wall made it hard for them to retreat. The young man growled and released another breath of flames, burning some of the soldiers. With each breath that he released, the flames grew brighter and brighter, symbolizing they were getting hotter. It wasn't until his flames were white that the soldiers finally regained their senses.

I should have been a lead sculpture right then. I was waiting, waiting to be lit up like a Christmas tree full of bullets. I heard the guns fire and for a second I thought I was dead. But then I opened my eyes and saw I wasn't.

The young man stared as bullets bounced off the shield that was being held up in front of him. Spikes shot out in all directions from the face of the shield, preventing the bullets from reaching the young man, as well as the young woman holding up the shield.

"Are you ok?" The woman asked, "It would be quite the moral crusher if the one guy who stood up against these guys got a body full of bullets." The young man smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, not a bullet grazed me thanks to your shield. Now, we need to find a way out of here." He turned and looked to the others. "Do you want freedom or slavery? We need to get out of here if we want to live! These guys can't take us! Sure they outnumber us be we can overpower them!"

I'm not much of a motivational speaker but somehow my sucky speech worked. The Awares started to fight back. We easily overpowered the soldiers and at first we started to celebrate until the admins showed up. That's when everything went downhill and that's when I became what I am today.

"Gamma soldiers! These people that you have witnessed fighting right now are your enemies! Incapacitate them immediately." The mindless gijinkas that had been standing still this entire time now began to move. At first, none of the Awares thought much of them, but then it began to dawn on them, one by one. The mindless outnumbered them five to one, and the mindless gijinkas had the same if not better powers than the Awares. The Awares stood no chance.

They overwhelmed us and took us down. We fought back but we couldn't stand a chance against the sleep powder. Apparently the serum we were resistant to gives the mindless resistance to that. The rest of us were out in a matter of seconds. After that… it's like a blank in my mind. I can't remember anything and no matter how hard I try, it's like I keep going in circles. I know things happened but I can't tell you what. I think it's possible they overwhelmed me with enough serum that I became a mindless too. I don't know that though. When I became Aware again, it was only about… I want to say a month ago, but it is hard to tell time when your mind is in a constant fog. When I became Aware again, I was still so much in a fog that I acted somewhat like everyone else. It was like that until you, Shayla. As soon as I saw that solar beam, the fog was gone. It had lifted from my mind and I could think clearly. Shayla, I owe you my life, and I promise to assist you in any way possible. The Greek Riders must fall. Of that, I am certain.

[Noblejanobii]

Alright! There is chapter 5! Right before my exams too. Lol, well to update, chapter 6 probably won't be up for a week or two because of exams. I also plan to correct some errors in the previous chapters to try and shape them up so that they appear better. I'll work on Chapter 6 when I can but for now my main priority is shaping up the other chapters.

Anyway, thanks for the comments and critiques everybody! All is appreciated and I promise Tri-Kappa Labs will be back soon!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Wow that is really intense. o_o I loved reading about the background behind the gijinkas and how they control them. It sound so terrible though. And the fact that he just lost 4 years of his life randomly is horrible! I wonder what was happening during that time.

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah that was one of the darker chapters so far but Casey wasn't going to sugar coat it. And trust me, we've only scratched the surface. That was only the Gamma level, which is one of the bottom levels. As the story progresses youll get to see more of what goes on.

As for what happened during the fours years of his life that he lost, well it was mainly his transformation into a Gijinka but that will be developed later on when you meet the main antagonists for the story.

[Noblejanobii]

Hey guys, so here is an update because the two of you that actually read this deserve it. So here it is. Um… well after midterms… I will be honest I had a four day weekend and I went down to the beach. The plan i originally had for doing stuff down there went out the window when I started playing pokemon again and wasting hours on it. So, I didn't get to work on chapter 6 or fix up the other chapters. That being said, most of my exam grades were good… except… well let's just say one of them I made a fantastic on without the curve. My grade didn't suffer that much. I'm still passing with a mid-B but… that was a real self confidence shaker. As a result, in order to try and focus on school, I will not be working on the story this week very much. Mostly because when my parents find out that two of my exams were… not very good… well let's just say you guys better hope they find my corpse.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Don't worry, you don't owe us any explanation. It's your story and you should update it whenever you have the time! Don't feel pressured or anything! Sorry that a couple of your exams weren't so good. I hope your parents aren't too mad about them. :O

[Noblejanobii]

Well they aren't asking so I'm not saying anything. But I felt bad for not telling you guys anything so I decided that because I actually have loyal fans here, and you guys are all awesome, that you all deserved an explanation.

[Noblejanobii]

So I finally got the nerve to tell my parents about my grades and by some miracle they weren't mad. With that note my inspiration has returned so in celebration i edited chapters 1 and 2. I'll get to work on 3, 4, and 5 then I'll start back up on chapter 6!

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 6

Casey and I peered silently from behind the cover of a few trees, watching the few base users in the clearing in front of us. We had been tracking them for days now, trying to figure out if they knew where I was supposed to go. We had had no luck so far. They had pretty much been patrolling the woodland area the past few days, not doing much beyond that. It was boring business, I could tell. Still, learning about these base users had proven interesting and been a source of entertainment for the past few days.

The team we had been tracking had split into two groups. The group Casey and I were watching now were all single base users. If I had to guess the other group was the group that had attacked Casey, Shaymin, and I the other day. This group contained a Arbok base user (named Imfezi), a Serperior base user (named Quetzalcoatl), a Dunsparce base user (named Tsuchinoko), and a Seviper base user (named Habu). All snakes. Lovely. Though I have to say that the mythology lover in me did find some humor in all of their names.

For the most part this group is pretty calm. For the most they don't do anything except… well be boys. It's be kinda fun watching them be idiots and lazy for the past few days but my patience is wearing thin. No offense but I want this test to be over already. As much as I love Casey's secret bases, I'd rather be back with civilization than in the woods. Still, these guys haven't gone anywhere lately and I am starting to get the feeling that they won't be any time soon.

"Shayla!" I heard Casey hiss. I turned slightly to make eye contact with Casey. He motioned for me to come closer. I got down into a crawling position and moved over to him. Casey bent down to meet me. "I just heard Habu mentioning something about heading back to base."

"Are you thinking we should follow them?" I replied in a whisper. Casey nodded his head a little, his hair falling on his face as he glanced back up.

"Yeah I do. We need to get you and Shaymin back." Casey whispered to me. He looked over the bush and frowned as he scanned the small camp. "They're packing up. We need to get moving if we want to follow them."

"Right." I signaled Shaymin then followed Casey as we trekked around the camp in a semi-circle. Then we hid in the trees, waiting for the base user team to start moving. It wasn't long, ten minutes at most, before the snakes were all packed up and heading southward. With Shaymin holding onto his shoulder and myself close beside him, Casey lead the way, keeping track of the snakes as we hiked through the large forest.

The sun seemed to move quickly, moving just as we moved and only slowing when we decided to rest. I was amazed how it appeared that only moments ago it had been early in the morning, but once we rested for the fourth time, it was almost sunset. It was like we were in another world where time suddenly flew much faster than before. For all I knew I very well could be. However, real or no, there was no sign of lies in my relief upon the mention of the final stop.

"Not long now Quet!" Habu said. The seviper base user showed off his fangs at the panting Serperior base user. Quetzalcoatl groaned and glared at the others standing around him. None of them seemed bothered by the amount of running and given the looks on their faces, Quetzalcoatl usually wasn't either. He spit on the ground and straightened up.

"Man I don't know what's wrong. It's like I can't breathe." Quetzalcoatl rasped out as he linked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

"Could it be that Dustox gijinka poisoned you earlier?" Tsuchinoko proposed. Quetzalcoatl shrugged a little while taking deep breaths.

"It's very well possible. In which case we need to get there soon. Otherwise I might not make it."

"I can carry you if you want." Habu proposed.

"No. I'll be fine." The other three boys looked at one another with worry but did as Quetzalcoatl commanded. If I had to guess, he was either the leader of this group or of the entire team.

"Will he live?" I asked Casey as we started off after the snakes again. Casey frowned a little and shook his head.

"I cannot say for sure. It depends if they get him treatment soon and how long ago he was poisoned." The Quilava gijinka trekked onward slowly. "But he is of no importance to us right now. Our main priority is to get you back to the Roman Charioteers. We do not have the supplies nor the time to help him."

"But-"

"That is final Shayla." I watched Casey, a darkened look in his eyes. There was something he hadn't told me about his past. Something that had happened that he didn't want to say to me about why he was against curing this base user. I decided not to press, for now.

We continued to follow the group of snakes and it was not long before we spotted three familiar faces. It was the female base users, the Empoleon, the Raichu, and the Charizard. I saw Shaymin bristle at the sight of them. Casey pat her head and nodded his head a little. That seemed to soothe Shaymin a little. We waited in the darkness of the forest a little ways away from them as they got reacquainted and then resumed our trek as the team of base users did. The sun began to move swiftly across the sky once more as we ran through the forest. In the blink of an eye the sky changes from blue to orange to black and the stars were out as decorations. Moonlight led us along after our unknowing leaders. I was going through the motions, my body moving but my mind asleep. It wasn't until Casey said my name that I woke up.

"Shayla!" Casey whispered with an edge of caution to his voice. I jolted a little and blinked my eyes before looking at him. He smiled a little. "I think I found your way home." He said, pointing ahead to a clearing. I followed where he was pointing and squinted. At the back of the clearing against a large wall of rock were three white cylinders. They had a blue glow around them that was very faint, my eyes barely even picking it out.

"How do you know?" I asked Casey as I watched the base user team run towards the cylinders. Casey frowned and creases appeared on his forehead.

"I… can't really remember… but something in my brain is saying that takes you home." He explained in a hushed voice. I decided that Casey's intuition had been right so far. I had no reason to question it now.

"How do we get to it then? We can't exactly just walk up and say, 'Oh hey I need to get back to the Roman Charioteers and sorry for attacking you earlier.'" Casey snorted a little and shrugged with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Oh yeah. I would love to see their faces if we actually did that, but I had something else in mind. Here's what we do…"

***

Quill drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch as he watched the TV screen. He was watching BBC, the only reliable news network when it came to finding out what crap was going down in America. He frowned as a map lit up, showing just how much of the United States had fallen to the Greek Riders.

"And as you can see here, the majority of the United States has fallen. Only Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon remain, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. China, Mexico, France, and many African countries have also fallen to these new terrorists. Great Britain fears that these 'Greek Riders' will soon arise in her own country, but we have been assured that our government is taking extreme caution to protect the country and the citizens within it. We can only hope that those around us, in countries that have fallen and in those that haven't, have at least begun to take the same precautions."

The TV turned off suddenly, making Quill blink a few times before spotting the culprit. Sloane was standing at the edge of the couch with her arms crossed.

"You're worried." She said accusingly. Quill rolled his eyes and shook his head at the younger girl.

"The idea of me being worried is absurd." He said, "I am a trained soldier that-"

"Knows no fear and has no emotions. Yeah yeah I know. I've heard that BS speech before and I still refuse to believe it. In case you haven't realized it yet Mr. Emotionless, you watch the news when you're worried. It takes your mind off of your problems."

"I find that hard to believe." Quill replied with a stern look. Sloane returned it, her brown eyes filled with accusations.

"I don't." She said in a low voice. Sloane turned her back and added, "Dr. Mullins wanted me to inform you that Shayla has almost reached the transporters." With that she promptly exited the relaxation area. Without a second thought, Quill was on his feet and running to the labs, a Cheshire Cat smile following him the entire way.

***

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump! Whoosh!

Casey's feet beat against the ground as he used the flames that burned inside of him to force power into his leg muscles. He shot forward at high speeds, the sleeves of his blue jacket starting to turn red as he ran. The base user group was directly in front of them and if his plan was going to work, they had to stay there.

Casey reached the edge of the clearing and launched himself high in the area. He spun quickly and a ring of fire formed around him. Eyes glowing the same color as the fire, the base users watched him carefully. He spun three times before starting to fire balls of lava at the users. They scattered, slowly starting to shift into their base forms. Casey narrowed his eyes, aiming with precision as he made sure not to actually hit anyone, no matter how tempting it might be.

Casey pulled back his arm and launched another lava ball at the Arbok user. The Arbok dodged and slithered away as the Dunsparce prepared an ancient power attack. Casey kept looking out the corner of his eye as he attacked, knowing he couldn't keep this up for too long. He was a goner if they all ganged up on him. Finally, much to his relief, Casey saw a figure dart quickly from the woods to the white cylinders. Casey smiled a little as Shayla entered one of the cylinders. Then, Casey heard a loud crack, pain shoot through his leg, and everything went black.

***

"Casey!" I watched in horror as an Empoleon released a hydro cannon, hitting Casey square in the left thigh. His ring of fire disappeared and he began to plummet towards the ground where the hungry base users were awaiting the Gijinka. "CASEY!" I screamed as my friend's fate was almost sealed.

My muscles in my arms and legs suddenly stiffened. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt my emotions surge forward in a force of power. Blue light surrounded Casey and he froze midair. His body was completely still, leaving the base users confused until Casey's body shot towards Shaymin and I. As Casey's body reached us, I saw the Empoleon say something to the Raichu and automatically knew what that meant. We were screwed unless I got this cylinder to work in the next ten seconds.

Casey's unconscious body flew inside the capsule. I started pressing random buttons, unsure of what to hit or push. However, I must have done something right because the door slammed shut and there was a loud whining noise. The cylinder began to shake and I shut my eyes in pain when the entire place erupted into white light. Pain filled my skull and I pressed my fingers to my throbbing head but it wasn't long before it all disappeared and we weren't in the cylinder anymore.

***

Quill knocked on the door loudly, breathing hard as he waited for someone to answer. After a minute he beat on it again.

"Alright alright! I'm coming! Calm down! I have a patient in here!" Dr. Mullins shouted as he reached the door and opened it. "Oh Quill, how nice to see you. I'm assuming you want to see the girl?"

"Yes I want to see Shayla. How is she?" Quill asked, trying to look around Dr. Mullins to attempt to see Shayla.

"She just woke up. She is a little startled and confused, but otherwise she appears fine." Quill started to push forward past Dr. Mullins when he felt the man dig his nails into Quill's arm. Quill glanced down at the scientist. "Be warned though, she appears to be hallucinating a little. When I left the room she started speaking to the wall."

"I thought you said she was fine." Quill said with a stern look. Dr. Mullins shrugged.

"Medically yes she is. But I do not know how the test may have affected her brain." Quill pinched his nose.

"That is medical doc!"

"No it is not!" Dr. Mullins countered.

"Yes it- oh I don't have time for this!" Quill pushed Dr. Mullins out of the way and walked into the lab room. "Shayla?" He called.

"Quill?" I looked up as I heard him call my name. Casey gave me a weird look before shrinking back as Quill entered the room. He smiled broadly and hugged me.

"Oh Shayla! I- we were all so worried that you wouldn't make it. It took so long for you to wake up." Quill said. I blushed a little at his lack of bashfulness.

"Q-Quill! I'm glad to see you too. But it wasn't that long was it?" I asked. Quill pulled back and nodded.

"It was. You've been out almost a week." My jaw dropped. Almost a week had passed in the woods too. Could it be then…?

"No way."

"Yeah. Time passes the same inside the test as outside. It's weird but luckily you won't have to do it again." I cast a glance at Casey, who shrugged slightly in return.

"Well, that aside, do we know what my base is?"

"Not yet." Dr. Mullins said as he reentered the room. "However, we will know by tomorrow at the latest. The data of your test has to be fully processed. For most people it doesn't take long but the longer the test the longer it takes to process it."

"I understand." I replied, keeping down my eagerness. I really wanted to know my base, now more than ever after the events of my test. But if I had to wait then so be it.

"Come on, we can get you registered on the team and get you a dorm in the meantime." Quill said.

"What about Casey?" I asked. Quill paused, giving me a confused look.

"Who?"

"Casey? The guy standing right there?" I pointed to Casey. Dr. Mullins and Quill both looked over at Casey before looking at me.

"There's no one there Shayla. You must be still feeling the affects of the syringe. Hallucination right afterwards is common. Don't worry it will wear off." Dr. Mullins assured me. I wasn't convinced but I decided not to push it. Quill extended his hand to me. I took it and stood up. My legs wobbled a little, not able to handle my weight just yet. Quill put one of his hands on my right shoulder to steady me.

"Careful. You've been out for several days. Your legs aren't going to be steady yet." He warned me. I nodded shyly as Quill wrapped his arm around my shoulders and said, "I'll help you until you feel strong enough to walk by yourself. Deal?"

"Yeah sure." I mumbled, blushing a little out of embarrassment. Quill lead me out of the room and back out into civilization, if that is what you would call it. It took me a minute to readjust to the environment around me. It felt like forever since I had been here and the part that perplexed me the most was that I was glad to be back. I was somewhat appalled at myself for moving on from my old home so quickly, but at the same time I knew there was nothing else to do but accept it and move on.

"Shayla! You made it!" I looked up as I recognized the male voice. I saw the small charmander push his way through the people walking nearby to meet Quill and I. "I was so worried!" Trebble added as he hugged my left leg. Quill released me as I bent down to Trebble.

"Hey little guy. I missed you." I replied, rubbing his head a little as I did. "You kept everyone in check for me right? No one has gone crazy yet?"

"No ma'am. But we were all worried you wouldn't pass your test. You were out for so long, almost a week! Most people finish in a day. i was really worried." I smiled at Trebble and lifted up his head a little.

"Now Trebble, you should know better. I may be new but I'm not going to leave just yet and not without a fight first. Got it?" Trebble's tail began to wag. He saluted me and said,

"Yes ma'am!"

I frowned as a low beeping noise emitted from the walkie-talkie strapped on Quill's waist. He unclipped it from his belt and pushed a button on it before holding it up to his ear. Quill listened to voice on the other end before groaning loudly.

"Again?" He said. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah ok. I'll be right there." I gave Quill a confused look as he puts the walkie-talkie back on his belt. "Sloane got into a fight again. We have to go bail her out of jail. Come on." He turned without waiting for a response and started off. I jogged after him, having to almost run to keep pace with him. Trebble followed behind us, running on all fours. After a minute I stopped to let him climb onto my shoulder.

"What did he mean by again?" I asked as I resumed my run after Quill.

"Sloane gets into a fights a lot." Trebble said, "As you know she tends to go out on the roof a lot. She's really the only person who does it and there have been conspiracy theories going around for a while now. Many of the other Greek Rider members are convinced she's in league with the Roman Charioteers or something." I frowned at that. Sloane seemed like a really nice girl. Why would people spread rumors about her like that?

"Is she a traitor?" I asked cautiously. Trebble shook his head. "I severely doubt it. Sloane hates the Roman Charioteers with all her heart. She especially hates one of their admins who is an ice type gijinka. He's the reason she joined us. If anyone's a traitor, it's the guy who started the rumors about her."

"And who might that be?"

"Troy. He's the leader of the Team Theta-Heta Harpies. He has a Wigglytuff base." Trebble said with a growl, "I hate him. He treats me like I'm a pet or something." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. So… Trebble didn't like being treated like a pet? That's going to be a hard urge to resist from now on. "But worse, he treats our whole group as if we're traitors even though we obviously aren't."

"Sounds like a great guy." I said sarcastically.

"Exactly." Trebble replied as we neared the dungeons. I recognized this area from when I exited it earlier. It didn't seem like that long ago yet it also felt like forever ago. Time was confusing to me ever since I entered this place and it made me wonder if something made time flow differently here or if it was just me.

Quill, Trebble, and I traveled down the same hallways that I could remember walking through on my first day here. Guards didn't cast us a second glance as we made our way to the dungeons. Quill opened the door and walked inside, scanning the cells until he spotted Sloane. It would not surprise me that Sloane had been in fights before. Unlike myself in that situation, Sloane was perfectly calm in the cell. She was lying on her back on the metal bed, arms crossed behind her head, and her eyes closed. She appeared to be listening to some music in her headphones but she still heard us approach as her eyes opened when Quill stopped in front of her cell.

"Hello captain." Sloane said, gazing at him with a bored expression.

"Same reason as usual?" Quill asked.

"Same reason as usual." Sloane confirmed as she sat up. Quill unlocked her door and let Sloane out. She stretched a little then yawned. "You'd think he'd get tired of arguing with me and just not pick a fight with me anymore. Especially since he loses all the time."

"Maybe you should just not get in fights with him anymore." Quill replied.

"And let him walk all over me? Yeah. Sure." Sloane said.

I walked behind them in silence as I listened to them bicker. My head was elsewhere though. I couldn't help but wonder what my base was. I was eager to find out but at the same time somewhat terrified. What if it was lame? How could I be useful then? I just had to hope for the best I guess.

I was so deep in my thoughts I didn't even notice where I was being lead until Trebble poked my cheek gently. I glanced up and noticed I was being taken to a sector of the building meant to serve as quarters for the members.

"You're in room 747. I checked you in while you were out. Here's your key." Quill said as he tossed me my key. "Get a good night's sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Yay, a new chapter! It's really interesting that the others can't see Casey. I'm looking forward to finding out more about that!

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah sorry for the wait. I've been struggling with school which has taken away from not only my writing time but also my inspiration. This kind of got pushed to the side for a while. It's a lot longer than I thought it was but there's a lot more that I wanted to put in there. Also I'm sorry if there are any typos for like… the last 3/4s of the chapter. I finished that at like 2am because guilt!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Haha. No worries. :) I know how that can be. I hope school gets better soon so you can get your inspiration back! :D No need to feel guilty though. ^^

[Noblejanobii]

Well it's fine except for the accursed chemistry class. It's stressing me out because I am doing everything I can and my grades won't go up. Stress=writer's block. But I do feel guilty because I tend to abandon my stories a lot and I want to finish this one.

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 7

'Casey? Casey! CASEY PLEASE!! Save me Casey! Save me! CASEY!!'

"Violet!" Casey sat up gasping for breath, hand over his chest. It took him a minute to slow down his breathing, trying to regain his sense of being. Casey cast quick gazes at his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a small apartment. He was sitting on a light blue carpeted floor. To his right was a small wooden dresser that was a bit dusty, as if it had not been touched in a while. On top of the dresser was a small purple vase, lacking flowers. The door was a little ways in front of him. To his left was a small bed. Casey could hear a faint breathing coming from the bed. Someone was sleeping there.

Casey stood up slowly and approached the bedside. He recognized the sleeper immediately. It was Shayla. He sighed a little, glad to know she was alive. Still, it was odd. He vaguely remembered speaking with her in a laboratory-like room but that seemed like so long ago. Had it really happened? Casey shook his head and nodded to himself. Yes it had happened. His memories were just degrading.

"That damn serum still affecting me even after I've escaped." Casey muttered. He wasn’t sure how much of that serum they had injected into him, but whatever they had done to him was ultimately still affecting him. He would have to wait until it had fully exited his system before he could even hope to see a lag in the effects. But that was assuming this stuff could actually exit his body. For all the science he knew, this stuff could be building up in Casey’s body and never leaving, forever degrading his mental power.

Casey frowned when he heard a loud crash outside. It sounded almost… demonic. Casey turned to the door to Shayla’s room. Something in his mind tugged at his instincts, wanting him to investigate. Casey wasn’t sure if it was the serum or his own will, but Casey felt his curiosity starting to awaken and he wanted to settle it. Setting one foot in front of the other, Casey made his way to the door and wrapped his fingers to the doorknob. He gripped it hard, the bronze metal felt cool in his hand. Twisting the doorknob as quietly as he could, Casey opened the door, creaking in protest.

“You’d think that for such as high tech place they’d fix the doors in this place.” Casey mumbled under his breath. He stepped out into the hallway and glanced back and forth. He could barely hear some voices down the corridor to his right. Closing Shayla’s door behind him, Casey started to follow the voices.

“Bro I can’t believe you did that! She’s so going to kill us!”

“Who the hell cares? She’s a diva anyway?”

“A dragon diva!”

“If I had realized you guys were wimps I wouldn’t have brought you. Now come on.”

Casey trailed after the three pairs of footsteps. He only paused momentarily when he reached what he believed to be the scene of the crime. A girl’s door was wide open, and a quick glance inside her room told Casey that these boys either were digging for something personal of hers or were on a panty raid. He hoped it was the latter but boys these days were devious little men. Always wanting to hurt women instead of respecting them. Casey sighed and continued down the corridor, the sounds of the trio in front of him gradually becoming louder. This meant that either he was gaining on them or they were moving to another area where the echoes of their footsteps were louder than where Casey currently was. Casey began to pick up the pace when the footfalls in front of his suddenly ceased. Casey pushed himself up against a wall and slowly moved alongside it. There were some shouts very close to him. Casey peeked around a corner and spotted three individuals bickering.

The first and appeared to be the leader of the group was a man with pink hair. It had a large cowlick in the center of his head. He had large blue eyes and fairly light skin. The man was most likely Caucasian. He had a brown and red poncho on with a pink shirt and pants underneath. He had his feet (which were in pink boots) crossed in the same way that girls cross their feet when they’re mad. His cheeks were a bright red from anger, and the way he clutched the apple in his left hand and the cassette tape in his right, the guy was obviously angry.

Arguing with him were two shorter guys. The first appeared to be a bird base user. He had black hair and wore colorful clothing, a mix of greens, blues, and yellows. He had on a pair of glasses that he occasionally pushed up in frustration as he bickered with the man who appeared to be the leader. He had brown eyes and was light skinned but had a darker tint to his skin than the pink guy did.

The other male was the taller of the shorter males bickering with the leader. He had a large set of wing like shells on his back, mainly blue with a few other colors. He had on sand goggles and was mainly dressed in the same colors as his shell wings. His skin was very dark, leading Casey to assume he was African American or close to it.

"It is necessary! That ***** is a traitor! We'll get it out of her one way or another! Even if it kills us!" The leader shouted.

"I don't think this is needed at all! She's probably not even the spy sir! Why on earth would Sloane of all the people here be a spy? She hates gijinkas!" The bird boy protested.

"I'm with Troy on this one. Sloane has to be the spy. There's no way she's not. Otherwise why would she go on the roof so often?" Shell boy countered. Casey stepped out into the light, cracking his knuckles.

"Now now, you should listen to bird brain over here. Going and touching a girl's stuff isn't a well respected move, even from my kind." Casey smirked a little at the color draining from all three boys' faces. It was like they had just seen a ghost. Maybe they had. Even so, Casey left fire start to burn on his palms. "I might have to punish you if you don't return everything you've stolen. And let's be honest, I have the advantage."

"What makes you say that gijinka?" The pink boy replied, venom slipping past his lips as he uttered the word Gijinka. "There's three of us and only one of you."

"Yes, but I've been trained to know your weaknesses." Without waiting another second, Casey ran at the ring leader. He grabbed the pink boy, wrapping his arms around himself, and then proceeded to knee the guy in the nuts from behind. The boy collapsed and Casey brushed his hands off. "See? I didn't even have to use my powers." He said with a smirk. "Now I'll take this." Casey picked up the cassette tape and ducked down as bird boy leapt at him. The boy hit the ground as he missed Casey. "Now that was just rude." Casey said. He sidestepped another attack before sighing. "Fine if it has to be that way." Casey put the tape in his pocket and clenched his hands into fists. They began to glow a bright green. He looked between his two other opponents, the minions, before lunging at the bird boy.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise as Casey's fist met his stomach. Instantly green sparkled in his eyes. The boy's eyes closed and he fell to the ground fast asleep. Casey looked over his shoulder to find the other boy. Bug boy was fleeing the scene. Casey snorted and smirked, his eyes flashing with pleasure at this sign of a chase. He took off after the boy, tackled him to the ground, and grabbed the sides of his head. The boy started to scream but Casey muffled the sound with his hand.

"You're lucky I don't kill you, activating my instincts like this." Casey whispered in the boy's ear. "You're lucky I don't burn you alive and then feast on your corpse." Warm wet tears trickled down the boy's face, hitting Casey's hand as they went. Casey felt the boy shaking underneath him. Good. His prey needed to be frightened. "However..." Casey breathed, "I've vowed to turn away from that life. So how about we make a deal? You just take a nice deep breath when I say so and I won't do any of the aforementioned things. Ok? Blink twice if you agree." The boy blinked so many times one would think he might be having a seizure. Casey's hand that covered the boy's mouth glowed green again. "Ok, breathe." He felt the sharp intake of air against his fingers. The boy's eyes fluttered then closed as he fell fast asleep.

Casey got off the boy and made sure the tape was still intact in his pocket. He turned down the hallway and made his way back to the room with the door still wide open. Stepping inside carefully, he heard the heavy breathing of someone inside. He looked around before spotting where he assumed the tape was meant to go. Quietly tidying up everything, Casey made sure everything was in place before exiting the room. He paused after a moment, recognizing the victim of the robbery to be Sloane, one of Shayla's teammates. He could recall them mentioning earlier that she was actually a spy but he doubted that was true. The Greek Riders has tried that kind of thing before and the Roman Charioteers were like bloodhounds for these spies. They would find you and they would kill you within a matter of months of you joining them. Given that Sloane had been implied to have been here a while, there was no way she was a spy.

Casey closed the door behind him and made his way back down the hallway to Shayla's room. Stepping inside, he walked over to a chair in the room. Casey felt himself suddenly overcome with fatigue as he collapsed in the chair. He was fast asleep in minutes.

***

"Casey? Are you really there? Casey?" Casey's eyes fluttered open. It took them a minute to focus on me. They flooded with recognition as they registered my face and he smiled.

"Shayla! It's good to see you!" He said, jumping up and hugging me tightly. I was startled by the action and tensed up before hugging him back.

"Hey. Glad to see you too. What's wrong?"

"Oh…" Casey looked somewhat embarrassed as he released me. "I was just worried because no one else could see me yesterday. I was worried you might not see me today." I smiled a little.

"A reasonable concern. It's alright. I'm here and I can see you. Even if no one else can I can see you."

"Shaymin!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Shaymin fuming on my bed.

"Oh and Shaymin's here too. I found her in my arms this morning." I added. Casey chuckled.

"Nice to see you too Shaymin. I was worried about you. Glad to see you are ok."

There was a tense silence that followed this, no one truly sure what to say. We were glad to see each other, don't get me wrong, but we had quite the predicament. Casey was a gijinka. I was a base user. Shaymin was a pokemon. We were in the heart of Roman Charioteer territory. If the three of us got caught together in any way shape or form, we'd probably be killed as traitors. None of us wanted to die just yet, Casey least of all since he'd already almost died several times from the sound of it.

We all jumped when there was a knock on my door. Casey looked around, a terrified spark in his eyes. He grabbed a blanket and threw it over himself. It was kind of obvious he was there but Shaymin was already hiding under the bed and my door was being opened so there wasn't much we could do. Quill's head poked out from behind the door.

"Everything alright in here?" He asked. I threw a shirt at him.

"Privacy!" I shouted. Quill rolled his eyes at me.

"Maybe I want to watch you though." He replied with a snort. I blushed a little and crossed my arms, turning away from him. I could feel the grin fall from his face. "Kidding." He mumbled. He mumbled. “You and Sloane today. All about your privacy.” My arms unfolded a little.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Quill stepped in cautiously, closing the door behind him.

“Someone broke into Sloane’s room last night. We found the culprits unconscious a little ways out of the dorm hallways. They’ve been taken to the medical ward due to mysterious injuries. We think they ended up getting into a fight with one another and don’t want to admit it. Instead their claiming a gijinka has infiltrated the facility and attacked them.” I noticed the blanket Casey was under shift a little. Quill noticed it too and I felt the my stomach hit the floor. “What was that?” He asked.

“What was what?” I replied, stepping between Quill and Casey.

“The blanket.” Quill responded, moving closer, “It moved. It looks like someone is under it.”

“What? No. Of course not.” I stepped back a little, keeping myself between Casey and Quill. Quill narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. A frown fit itself firmly on his lips as he watched my movements carefully. I could see the trained soldier in him observing me for any sign that I was a traitor. I pleaded with my body to not give me away. I had just joined, I had gotten a base, and I had questions that needed answers. I couldn’t leave just yet.

With a swift movement, Quill wrapped his arm around me and gently pushed me aside like a river does a twig. I couldn’t react in time to prevent him from reaching the blanket. He grasped the fabric firmly in his left hand and yanked it aside. I held my breath for one tense moment, before confusion flooded through me as Quill began to laugh.

“I had no idea you were into magic Shayla!” He said with a loud chuckle.

“Wh-What?” I stuttered. Quill turned to me and smiled.

“You really had me convinced there for a moment that you were hiding a gijinka. I mean the blanket looked like it had a person under it and everything! How'd you do it?" I blinked at Quill twice before looking at the chair. Casey was sitting there, frozen in fear, plain as day. But Quill couldn't see him. It was just like the day before.

"Uh… a magician never reveals her secrets!" I finally managed. Quill laughed loudly.

"Very nice! But you have to teach me that sometime! Promise?"

"Promise." I replied, glad to be off the hook for now. "Can I finish getting dressed real quick and then I can meet you right outside?" Quill blushed a little and nodded.

"Ah right yeah! I'll get out of your way!" He quickly made his way out of the room and shut the door. I turned my gaze to Casey. He nervously shrugged and said,

"I was helping a damsel in distress?"

"And nearly got yourself killed. Be more careful. We're lucky no one can see you yet for some reason, except those boys and me."

"Right. I'll stay here for the day then, hide under the bed or something. Stay out of sight and you update me tonight."

"Sounds like a plan."

I went over to the closet and quickly got dressed. I exited the room and walked to Quill who wasn't that far away. He explained to me that we were going to discover my base now and possibly test it. Sloane planned to meet us there because she didn't want to play any first person shooter with the boys. Apparently they were sore losers and Sloane kicked butt. Sounded like a fun time to me but sadly I couldn't watch the fun.

I was still very excited though. I was very curious as to how this system for bases worked. I couldn't quell my excitement, nor could I hold back the nervousness that boiled within me. Casey was here but only I could see him. Was it possible I was imagining him? Or was it something else? So many questions so little answers and I didn't know who I could trust for this.

'You can trust me.' A voice rang out in my thoughts. I nearly jumped out of my skin and glanced around, recognizing the voice to be Casey's.

'Casey?' I thought, testing to see if what I thought had just happened had actually happened.

'Yes Shayla?'

'Oh my gosh. Is this…?'

'Telepathy? I believe so. Not uncommon amongst gijinkas of the same DNA.'

'What?'

'It means they were either related by human DNA or Pokemon DNA. One of their DNA sources had been siblings and in rare cases it was both. Usually if they were related they had telepathy and the closer related they were the stronger the telepathy.'

'But I'm no gijinka.'

'Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how this base system works.'

I frowned. Was he proposing that I might be part gijinka now? That's… well I'm not sure what that is. But it was an interesting proposal.

'At least we can communicate now.' I replied.

'This is true. Keep me posted. And note, I can hear all your thoughts so just say my name if you want to chat.'

'Ok. Will do.'

I nearly bumped into Quill as we reached the lab. Quill opened the door for me and I stepped in. Dr. Mullins was waiting, a suspicious look on his face that completely unnerved me. I shrunk back a little but Quill nudged me forward.

"It's alright." He whispered, "We just need to discuss something." I felt my pulse begin to race as I was forced onto a table. Dr. Mullins stare seemed to pierce into my very soul. I was terrified. Whatever excitement I had felt earlier was gone, sucked right out of me. Dr. Mullins sat down in a chair in front of me, Quill leaning against the wall behind Dr. Mullins. Dr. Mullins opened a file folder and glance down to read it, then looked back up.

"Shall we begin Shayla?"

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Haha panty raid? XD

Wow some of that was pretty rough. Casey is kind of scary. Pretty interesting that he can't be seen by everyone and the telepathy thing. Wondering how Casey and Shayla are related now! Looking forward to reading more as always :D

[Noblejanobii]

You know boys. All about that underwear.

And thank you. All shall be revealed one day.

[Noblejanobii]

Tri-Kappa Labs
Chapter 8

A bird cawed in the distance as it circled overhead searching for its next meal. Its wings beat silently as it waited for prey to show itself. In the forest below, a group of nine individuals trekked through the humid area. The sun was relentless and it was hard to breath with the air being so thick. Over the puddles of water, steam arose and swear beaded down the backs of the group.

"Why do we have to walk again?" A young girl asked. The leader groaned loudly, the sound coming out as more of a growl.

"We've been over this. If we fly then they'll either see or hear us then attack us before we can get the jump on them. Stop asking."

"I'm sorry." The girl whimpered, "I just don't know how much further I can go in this heat."

"I agree." Another girl mumbled. The rest of the group remained silent, all of them stopping when their leader stopped. The man turned to the two girls. The fear was evident in their eyes. The man shook his head.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wonder how headquarters would take your complaining." The girls swallowed roughly as their leader glared down at them with a cold stare. "They might even demote you if I were to report this back." The man tapped his chin, as if he were thinking it over. "To think, you had just regained control over your minds too." He shrugged and turned his back to the girls. "No matter. You can both be easily replaced." The leader began to walk away when both girls cried out. They bowed to him in respect and remorse.

"We promise not to complain anymore." They said simultaneously, their nerves obviously on edge. The leader observed their movements carefully before smiling, his teeth sharp like the fangs of a demon.

"Excellent. Now hush, the prey is close by."

***

I walked silently next to Quill as they hiked through the forest. I hadn't stopped reviewing the conversation with Dr. Mullins in my head since they had had it, and I could feel that Casey was starting to get tired of hearing it. Still the conversation had been a complete shocker and it was going to be tough keeping it on the down low.

Casey sighed as he walked next to Shayla. She was terrified of her secret. In her situation he couldn't blame her but still, Casey did find it a little bit irritating that she wouldn't stop thinking about it. It wouldn't be that bad except that they did still have telepathy and so anything she thought he could hear. He didn't mind being linked to Shayla. It would be useful in the future, but still very annoying in the present.

On the bright side, Casey and Shayla could communicate undetected in this mental state. They had also established that at least Shayla’s team could not see Casey. It appeared that he was in some sort of invisibility state. Some people could see him, or at least that’s what they assumed after the incident earlier that week. However, most people who encountered him couldn’t see him, yet he still had a physical substance. This meant if he touched someone they would feel him touching them. As a result, Casey had to be extra careful, because even though Shaymin was in the same state as he was, Casey was at a much higher risk than Shaymin because he was a gijinka after all.

Casey and I were shocked out of their thoughts when the group around them stopped walking. Sloane was leading the way for them, her supersonic hearing guiding them through the dangerous forest. Sloane adjusted her headphones a little bit, closing her eyes as she listened carefully.

“What is it?” I whispered. Sloane hissed a little, signaling for total silence. After a moment Sloane opened her eyes and growled.

“It’s them.” She said.

“Of course it is.” Dew answered, obviously irritated by the proposition. I glanced over at the baker. In the past few days that I had gotten to know him, I realized that despite his kind nature, Dew was very easily ticked when a person pushed his buttons in the correct order. “That’s who we need to encounter right now.”

“Easy Dew.” His twin sister, Mew, replied. “We can deal with them. Plus this was to be expected. After all, what we’re after could bring the downfall of gijinkas as a whole.”

“That’s true.” Dew mumbled under his breath.

“Either way, we need to get a move on. We have to reach the temple before they do.” Oh did I forget to mention that we’re in Latin America right now? Yeah. We’re in the jungles of Mexico I believe. Apparently this whole gijinka problem is either not a new thing or something very similar happened during the time of the Aztecs. We aren’t completely sure but that is what one of the Roman Charioteer scouts said so we were sent after it. I had to admit I was excited for the mission but I could do without the heat. The other did not seen too bothered by it (except for Oliver, because his usually white shirt was transparent right now), but I preferred cooler weather than this. The humidity had sweat running down my skin like a river, which is never a pleasant feeling.

We resumed our trek through the forest, Sloane continuing to lead us carefully through the treacherous wilderness. I found it quite odd that we had yet to encounter a single bug or animal. I wasn’t sure if it was the way Sloane was taking us or maybe the aura we gave off, but once again, I seemed to be the only one who took notice or cared. For what seemed like days, but in reality was only about an hour, there was only silence. No one spoke as we made our way to the temple. Then it happened.

Sloane let out an ear piercing screech, covering her actual ears (not her headphones) as she collapsed to the ground. Joey quickly made his way to her side, scouting around for the source of the attack. Sloane writhed on the ground in pain, murmuring incoherent sentences with only the occasional understandable word. She began to growl after a moment and when she opened her eyes again, they were filled with an intense burning hatred.

“Dylan!” She screamed. Pushing Joey out of the way, Sloane jumped up and let out a loud screech. I covered my ears in pain as I could literally see the shockwaves form in the air and shake the nearby trees at their foundations. Well I totally wasn’t in Kansas anymore, even though I’ve never actually been to Kansas. With the whole area shaking from Sloane’s shockwave emissions, I barely saw the figure backflip off one of the branches of the tree and land on the ground perfectly. Immediately my mind screamed that he was a gijinka, and man did he look it.

This character was obviously male. He had wide shoulders with toned arms and legs. HIs skin was fairly light in tone, a littered darkened, showing he had only just recently seen the sun. His eyes were a glimmering emerald green. His hair was brown, a dusty sort of color. From his hair sprouted two long green horns, pointing straight to the sky. He had on a white t-shirt that clung to his skin slightly. He had on what appeared to be brown jeans and combat boots, both meant for fighting and flighting. Plus, he had on green fingerless gloves. On top of it all, he had on what appeared to be a cross between a vest and a trench coat. It was sleeveless, came down to the ground on his, and was the same green as his eyes. The collar popped up so that it was the same height as his neck, maybe a little shorter. And to finish it all off, the man appeared to have glowing yellow tattoos on his arms. There were x circles going down, one on his shoulders, one on his mid-biceps, one on his elbows, and one on his mid-forearm. With the gloves on, I couldn’t tell if he had the same circles on his hands too but given that the glowing yellow lines connecting the circles on his arms led underneath his gloves, it would be a fair guess.

This man, Dylan as Sloane had called his, growled while he observed us. His eyes lingered on me a fraction of a second longer than the rest of the group, and if I had to guess, it was probably because he didn’t recognize me. It appeared that Quill and co. had met this gijinka before so it was also a reasonable assumption. His gaze returned to Sloane and his growling became louder. Sloane growled at the same volume in return and tension crawled across my skin like a bug. After a moment, both released large amounts of flames, Sloane morphing as she attacked. When they both stopped, Sloane had assumed her pokemon form. She appeared different than any normal noivern but before I could get a good look at her, Sloane and Dylan had taken off into the forest.

"Um… are we-?"

"Nothing we can do about it." Quill interrupted, "Happens all the time. I wouldn't be too surprised if the rest of the gang showed up soon enough. We need to keep moving."

"But Sloane-"

"Can handle herself." Oliver interjected. "She's done this before and obviously lived to tell the tale. What makes now any different?" I glanced into the forest where the sound of screeches and dub step bursts. I'd just have to leave it for now. We needed to move.

Leaving Sloane behind, the group of base users moved on. We didn’t make very far if I’m honest. We quickly encountered the rest of the group Dylan was a part of. They were all gijinkas. Each base user seemed to have a specific opponent.

The first pair up was between Dew and a female gijinka. She was in a skin tight green suited, covered with what looked to be vines and leaves. There was a yellow scarf around her neck. Her eyes were brown and her skin even darker than her eyes. She grinned at Dew with an uncanny confidence, plucking one her vines and shaping it into a rapier. Her brownish green hair flowed behind her as she charged in, rapier glowing a bright green as it tried to implant itself into Dew’s flesh. Dew dodged easily as he began to transform. He shrunk quickly, taking on the shape of an otter on two legs. Fur began to replace skin as he turned blue and sprouted wings from his back. He took the scallchops from his legs and blades shot out from them. He shot forward and blocked the glowing rapier with his two shell blades. The two were locked into fierce battle, with the sound of metal echoing throughout the air. It rattled against my eardrums as I looked the second pair.

Nearby I saw Joey shrinking. He slumped down onto all fours, his body consumed in darkness. When it dispelled, Joey was a gray canine with blue rings on his legs and on the center of his head. His long tail swished behind him, flames burning at the end and majestic wings fully unfurled in the air above him. He growled at the gijinka before him. The gijinka smirked at Joey and held out his scythe in front of him. He was dressed in a heavy white winter jacket and white jeans with black combat boots. He had on a black t-shirt underneath with a cross necklace hanging around his neck. He had on black gloves that had a dark aura swirling around them where he was clutching the scythe that seemed to be made of shadows. His hair was white, pulled back into a short ponytail with black bangs hanging over his right eye. His left eye glowed an eerie red, the color of blood sparkling inside. His skin was pale, as if he had never encountered sun in his life. He had two black dots right underneath his left eye and his one visible eyebrow was black, sculpted like that of an Ancient Egyptian's. "تأتي مع مرتبة الشرف والخداع بلدي المنافس." The gijinka said, beckoning Joey.

By the time I spotted Mew, she was already in her fusion form. She looked to be a quilava in neon colors. Bright blues, tans, greens, pinks, and oranges were her palette. But what was most noticeable was her long tail, small bug-like wings, and two antennae. I could see the Celebi and Mew in her. She released rainbow flames at a nearby gijinka, who merely teleported out of the way. He had an aura of pride about him. His hair was a whitish pink, eyes a dark brown, and skin only barely tanned. He had on a white hoodie that was brown and black at the bottom. His pants were black as well. He appeared to have no feet, or possibly no need for them as he floated in the air. His black tail swished back and forth in the air, the purple aura around this gijinka most visible around his tail. He had three silver rings on his right hand, one on his index, middle, and ring fingers, and one on his left, on his thumb. The gijinka held his right hand into the air and gazed at it. Before long, a black ball of energy formed. He smiled then shot it with impeccable speed at Mew. She barely dodged in time.

Before I could become too drawn in by Mew’s fight, a cry of pain that sounded like Oliver echoed in my ears. I followed the sound and saw Oliver’s fusion on the ground. He was small, barely bigger than a puppy. He was all white, the body of a chickorita with the color of a togepi. Except, instead of a leaf, he had three shoots that looked like pieces of grass on his head. They glowed and shook with each of his attacks. His opponent, who was laughing like a gaudy rich woman at the moment, was gorgeous. She was perfect in just about every appearance. Her skin was just the right color, her eyes a perfect shade of red, and her hair was just the right mix of pink and gray. Her hair swirled and curled, caressing her body shape until it reached her waist. She wore a diamond necklace and a pearl bracelet on each wrist, with a ring on every finger, each ring holding a different stone. She was in a short golden dress with a pink trim, a pink robe tied with a hot pink ribbon covering her upper arms. She had on pink ballet shoes with high white stockings and pink wings that sparkled in the sun hung out from her back. Oliver stood up, his grass shoots beginning to glow. At the same time, the woman shook her finger. Their eyes briefly glowed before the woman shot rapid fire ice shards, Oliver intercepting each one with a burst of fire.

Once again I found my attention be drawn away to another fight. A girl with black hair tied into a braid with long black ears coming from her head and red goggles covering her soot colored eyes was locked into battle with Being. Being looked exactly like a quilava, except for he had red stripes that cut across his body like scars. They, like Oliver’s shoots, glowed whenever he released fire. The gijinka’s eyes did the same when she breathed fire as well. Her shirt was orange, her scarf was red, and her overalls were brown. She had on black farm hand gloves and bright gold boots. The gijinka seemed to know Being’s weakness very well, getting in close and personal whereas it appeared Being liked to attack from far away. It was a game of cat and mouse between those two, but I couldn’t stay focused on them either.

Trebble seemed to be holding his own. Releasing one focus blast after another, Trebble was able to keep his opponent at bay. His opponent was a big guy too. He had to be at least six and half feet tall, probably closer to seven feet. He had on a blue shirt that was a grayish blue in the middle, with red on the bottom of the sleeves, and a collar that hid the man’s neck. His eyes were sharp, a reddish brown that could pierce the soul. His hair was a navy blue with two bright red streaks in the front, and three blue horns shot out like half of a star on each side of his head. He had fangs that stuck out past his lips, reminding me of a vampire as I observed him. His fingers looked to be claws, the nails sharp enough to be small talons. His pants were the same navy as his hair with the same red undertones on the backs of his pants. Large red wings that matched the colors of these undertones protruded from his back. The gijinka didn’t seem frustrated with Trebble, in fact, he seemed somewhat cocky. He was getting hit with a barrage of attacks and seemed to be taking no damage, much to the frustration of Trebble.

Yet, the fight that called the most attention to me, was the fight of Quill against his own rival in power. Quill was, like many others, a Quilava in body base but his fur was a mix of greens and blues. His fire was a deep forest green, his paws and eyes that same color. He had two long ears that could be seen as wings extending from his head, a flower on the left one. He growled and spewed forest green flames at the gijinka before him. She danced out of the way, blocking most of the attack with a large boulder for a shield. The gijinka had skin as black as chocolate, what appeared to be a tiara of diamonds on her head. She barely wore anything, but what she did wear looked heavier than a car. Plated on her outer arms and legs were what appeared to be terracotta, working as armor that blocked most of Quill's fire attack. On her chest, back, and lower body, similar terracotta plating barely covered those parts of her body. Yet it was just as effective, because none of Quill's attacks were getting through.

"Hey kid! Your opponent is over here!" Stars littered my vision as I suddenly found myself on the ground. The world seemed to move in slow motion as a man appeared in my vision. He was a skeleton, or at least he appeared to be. His skin was ghostly white, his eyes sunk in making his face appeared like an exoskeleton. Two white horns peeked out from his head, sticking out like sore thumbs in his black hair. Fangs hung out from his top lip, reminding me once again of a vampire. His skin was sunk in along his arms and legs, making him seem like no more than bone. His outfit was a grayish white, with flashes of purple on his sides. He was barefoot, I noticed, a tail tracing behind where he walked. But the part that drained the color from me was not his skeletal appearance, but his wings. They were strictly bone, making a whistling noise any time they moved that sounded like the groaning of a ghoul. He peered at me with piercing red eyes, the look striking me at my core.

"Leave her alone!" Casey screamed. A ball of flames tackled the man. He grunted and stumbled back, obviously disoriented. I realized quickly that he couldn't locate Casey. I could see him though, and, in a word, he looked pissed. Flames coated Casey's body, rippling across his back, arms, and legs. Even as he breathed, smoke and sparks flew out with each of Casey's breaths. My… er our opponent stood up and looked at me.

"Hm… an illusionist it seems." He said. The man clapped. "Well done little girl, this will be fun." Then he charged. I scrambled up to my feet and ran away as fast as I could. My feet slammed across the forest floor with loud thumps as I ran. I couldn't hear the man behind me but as soon as I hit a vine, I knew I didn't matter. My ankle shrieked in pain as I took a tumble and hit the ground. I tried to stand up again but it was useless. I was useless. Casey attacked the man from behind, jumping onto his back and trying to cook the bag of bones. The man roared in more anger than pain as he threw Casey off, tracking him with the visible smoke in the air. "Hm…" The man hummed, "Your illusions are somewhat annoying now. I might just have to dispose of them before I can dispose of you." His bones extended before they let out a noise like nails on chalkboard and came off the man's body. They hovered in the air, sharpened at deadly points, aimed right at Casey. Casey, who didn't see them, was on the ground holding his head, having hit a rock headfirst on that last fall. The bones shot forward at Casey.

"No!" I shrieked, extending my hand. Suddenly the bones froze, and my hand wasn't a hand anymore. The world looked so much bigger and time seemed to be frozen as I felt like lava was coursing underneath my skin. With each passing second that failed to pass, I grew smaller and smaller until the jungle seemed much more massive than before. All I could see were my white as snow paws, but I wasn't too focused on that. As time drew back into its normal pattern, the bones remained frozen, a blue aura around them. Casey and the man looked at me, shock registering on both their faces. The man snarled and snapped at me,

"Release them you wench!" Even if I knew how I wasn't planning on it. Casey plucked one out of the air and stabbed the man in the shoulder with it, the rock sharp enough to break through his arm. He cried out and suddenly yelled, "Retreat!" I didn't realize he actually meant it until he began to flee, blood black as night pooling down his back. Several out footfalls could be heard a ways away but I couldn't get over the fact that what had just happened was too easy. That guy was obviously strong and yet he let Casey and I off. Something was up.

Then my vision began to swim. The world began to enlarge again and somewhere in that vast jungle, someone was calling my name. I could barely make it out, but before I could register it, the world spun into darkness, Casey's voice ringing in my head.

[Noblejanobii]

Not as long as I would like but I've had a rough few weeks so I feel entitled to a little slack. You can actually probably see the stress getting to me in those later paragraphs. I'm becoming somewhat lethargic as of late. Oh well. Anyway, here we meet the villains! Yes I am pulling that cliché! Why? Because it's fun! Bragging rights to the person (or people) who can guess what any or all the gijinka opponents are! Anyway, I might be posting a few sprites soon as well as mini-profiles for the characters soon so look forward to that. And I plan to take a creative writing class over the summer so expect these to get a little bit better. See you soon!

[Noblejanobii]

Alright so first up on the Tri-Kappa Labs data files is… Sloane! Here's a little bit about her. I've left off past because for most characters that will be discussed throughout the story.

Tri-Kappa Labs Profiles:

Name: Sloane Jackson
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Sexuality: Straight
Personality: Sloane has commonly been accused of bi-polar disease. While she's never gotten the official diagnosis on that, Sloane thinks is at least partially true. She seems to have two different personalities most of the time. On one hand she's very creative, competitive, makes bad jokes, and is very optimistic. This is the side most people see of her because it is her true personality. However, after years of being in abusive situations, Sloane has grown a shell that comes up quickly like a shield. She has a short temper and while in most cases she's able to keep her emotions in check, if you push her buttons the right way she will explode. Sloane's shield is a combination of this rage as well as her more realistic serious side. Upon being angered, she tends to be more somber and realistic bordering on pessimistic. She makes fun of herself as well, because that used to be what make other people laugh. Sloane is insecure in herself which makes her both close and distant to others depending on how she feels that day. She tends to change emotions quickly, but that's only from a positive to a negative emotion. If she becomes sad, it takes a while to get her out of the funk.
Likes: Writing, music, anime, video games, reading, sleeping, cheese, wine, marshmallows, soda, and people
Dislikes: chocolate, cockroaches, losing, fruits, vegetables, walnuts, peanut butter, Troy, Troy's posse, people touching her stuff, sharing, and people talking about her past
Allergies: Chocolate and Sulfa drugs
Fears: Cockroaches, heights, being forgotten, being rejected, and not being well liked
Talents: writing, singing, editing film, and fixing computers
Base level: 1st Generation Purebreed
Base: Noivern
Pokemon Appearance: http://i61.tinypic.com/2rxfqtc.jpg
Height: 5'2
Weight: ~130 pounds
Nationality: American
Race: Caucasian
Ancestry: Take all of Europe, put it in a pot, then throw in some Cherokee Indians, and then you have Sloane.
Home State: South Carolina
Secrets: She claims to only love Fall Out Boy but she's also a big fan of Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, and Imagine Dragons. Sloane also loves Nightcore Remixes.
Trivia: Her favorite colors are black and purple. Her favorite Pokemon are Umbreon and Noivern. She has a cassette tap that her best friend who moved to Boston have her before he left. Her favorite city is either Las Vegas or New York City. She's been to Italy. Other than Pita bread, Sloane isn't a huge fan of Greek food. You can ask her anything about mythology and she'll probably know it. Sloane's a lot smarter than she lets on.

[Suicune's Fire]

Yaaaaaaaaaay, reading more! I'm gonna do the chapters one by one and correct them as I go. It would be super awesome if you made the corrections to the chapters after I pointed them out to you so my hard work doesn't go to waste. xD And so that your story gets the awesome extra attention it deserves. c: I'm not going to point out every time in the speech when there's a period and there should be a comma at the end, followed by a lowercase letter to continue the sentence, because I'll leave that up to you. Trust me, it's fun to go through your story and correct the silly errors! I enjoy it a lot. xD It's kind of like killing off little infestations and being like "BAI! See you again never!" I also can't be stuffed colouring all those pieces of my text after quotes so I'm not going to. xD

Chapter 2!


The darkness dispersed are what seemed like years.
I believe this is meant to say "after" instead of "are."


But my entire body weighed down like a piece of lead.
I think this is correct wording, but something about it throws me off. It sounds like you're saying that her body was weighing something else down. I think saying "was weighed down" makes more sense.


My hands were bound above me, I was forced on my knees.
This is an example of two sentences that should be separate. They are not linked by anything, and therefore a comma is the wrong punctuation to use. You're after a semicolon or a period. If you need more help on clarification for this, just let me know. :]


No doubt he had on bullet proof padding.
"bulletproof" is one word.


"Well little Miss Runner,
A comma after "well" is a good idea, since it's one of those phrases like "yeah" that, for some reason, require them. Otherwise it could be read as him describing her as being well (in good health).


"Geez you're stubborn."
Same situation here. When there's an extra phrase like that, there needs to be a comma after it. It looks and reads neater. x)


Look, you're bored, I'm bored, and all you have to do to get out of here is just answer like five questions. Ok?
1. "Ok" is read as "ock." It is not the correct way to say "okay." You can either spell it as OK, O.K., or okay.
2. See how you put the comma after "Look" at the start? Perfect. :] That's what I meant for the other two things I quoted. However, the use of "like" in the middle of a sentence has to be written with commas around it. It's not really proper English to say "like" in the middle of a sentence out of context, even though everyone does it (and it's great to put it in characters' speech to make them seem more realistic). If you don't put a comma directly before and after it, it literally reads as "you have to answer like five questions would." She has to answer in the way that five questions would answer. xD As if five questions answer a particular way. See what I mean?


"If you don't talk I will make you talk.
A comma after the first "talk" would make it better to read.


"Did you have any plans in regards to say a job or college before this happened?"
Again with the commas. This time, around "say." Otherwise he's asking her if she had plans to say the words "a job or college before this happened." xD


"22 and March 31, 1992. You?"

"25 and November 2, 1989."
It's very unnatural for me to read numbers in stories. Stories are meant to be words, not symbols, unless it's outside of speech. This should really say "Twenty-two and March thirty-first, 1992." The general rule is to write out any number smaller than one-hundred. If it wasn't dialogue, it would probably be different, however, such as when a character sees the time.


We reached the end of the blue corridor and took a right onto another corridor, this one green.
Should be "into," not "onto." :]


Here there were many viewing windows into a variety of rooms.
I think the "Here" is redundant. I don't like to see "here" in stories because it seems like a present-tense thing to do, or something a character would say in speech. Replaced with "I noticed," it would sound much better.


Quill and I walked passed them quickly but I caught glimpses of a training room,
That should be "past." You use passed for the past-tense of, for instance, passing an item to another person. If you had said "Quill and I passed them," it would make sense because them passing the rooms is the action, but because you added "walked," it makes walking the action. Meaning that "passed" becomes "past."


Quill lead me to one of the nearest relaxation areas.
The past tense of leading someone somewhere is "led." The metal is spelled "lead" as well and said like "led." That might be where the confusion is. xP


She also had purple Beats headphone hung around her neck.
*headphones


I squinted to try and read what she was typing but the text moved to quickly for me to make it out.
Should be "too quickly."


Her skin was pale, like she hadn't gone outside much but she had freckles all over her cheeks.
There should be a comma after "much," because you're inserting that extra bit of detail into the sentence that could otherwise be removed. If you took it out, it would say "Her skin was pale, but she had freckles all over her cheeks." Because you added in that extra bit in the middle, you need commas surrounding it. :]


Her eyes were a brilliant violet that matched her glasses which were, you guessed it, purple.
The thing I quoted above is the exact same as this sentence. You've done it correctly here and put commas around "you guessed it." :]


"And you brought a girl." The girl smiled a little and looked back to Quill. She began to wiggle her eyebrows at him.

"No Sloane. Put those eyebrows away Sloane."
XDDDDD OMG I LOVED THIS PART. It's hilarious. The wiggling eyebrows is a great image. XD Love it. But there should be commas before "Sloane" in both cases. "No, Sloane. Put those eyebrows away, Sloane." When addressing a character in this manner, always put a comma before their name. :]


"I'm Sloane Jackson.
OMG! O: SLOANE?! When did you come back from your GCEA journey?!?! xD


"Wait wh-"
Again because of intonations and such, putting a comma after "wait" is a good idea (even if there's only one and a half words in that sentence xD).


"Not funny man!
Because there is no comma before "man," I read this as if he was saying "Oh no, not Funny Man!" As in, there's a person called "Funny Man" and he was like "Not him!" xD So yeah...for clarity's sake, put commas before things like names and nicknames when characters are addressing each other.


"That's what you always say." Quill retorted. Being huffed loudly and crossed his arms. He turned his back to us but then hesitated. Being looked over his shoulder at me.

"Who's the new girl?"
This is more of a personal preference, but because the second line belongs to Being, you could put all of Being's body language on the same line before he speaks. So Quill's speech and then "Quill retorted" are one line, then the next line is Being's actions as well as his speech. :] Like I said, though, it's more personal preference than anything.


Ok well that will make sense once he does. Now if you'll please excuse me I have broken lab equipment to attend to."
You already know my issue with "ock" so I'll leave that to you. ;] But in this instance of speech, I'd put a comma after "okay" and also "well," and then in the second sentence, you need a comma after "now" and "me." Remember intonations. I'm not going to point out more comma use from now on since it's time consuming and you can find them yourself. xD


Their skins were darker than Being and Sloane's but still pretty pale.
It sounds weird to say "their skins" because it makes it sound like they each have multiple skins. I'd stick with "Their skin was darker" :]


And just as quickly as they had came they were gone.
This should be "they had come." If it was "quickly as they came" then "came" would be correct, but adding in "had" makes "come" the appropriate term. (I'd also put a comma after come.)


One guy was sitting cross legged on the couch,
Should be cross-legged.


He had leaf green hair that spiked every which way.
I believe that should say "in every which way." Without "in" it sounds kinda weird.


There's a chick-fil-a a few rows down."
I didn't know what this was but I googled it. It's a company so it should be spelled with capitals; "Chick-fil-A."


I scarfed down two chicken biscuits and a drink before noticed that Quill was smirking at me.
Um. Do they really sell biscuits made of chicken? o_o Like cookies...with chicken? *shudders* Also you forgot "I" before "noticed."


"Ready for me to explain everything."
Should have a question mark at the end. :]


"Yes. He was originally in a China facility but escaped and was shipped here.
Should say "Chinese facility." Otherwise it's like saying "He was originally in an America facility." Otherwise you could say "in a facility in China" and that would work.

There we go! Finally done with corrections. xD It may seem like a lot, but many of them were repeats, and others were just little errors that are easily fixable. I liked the insight we got into all the characters, as well as some context for the story. One of the things I could have guessed was that it was a story involving pokémorphs/fusions/whatever due to the title of the story. I have read quite a few fusion stories before, so I'll look forward to how this goes. The main difference is that I have never read a pokémorph story (if you don't mind me calling it that) from a voluntary perspective. It's always "the character gets captured and wakes up in a facility wherein scientists/an organisation is experimenting on them and others against their will," so I'm quite keen to see what you do from a voluntary position.

I'm not too sure how I feel about bringing real-world countries and such into it, because as much as it makes sense, it's hard for me to believe that the Greek could take over the world. xD If anything, I would expect it to be a country with a huge military force like China. But Greece? Seems a little out of place. I also thought in the beginning that the Greek Riders had captured Shayla and were going to force her to comply with their wishes to be experimented on, which I imagine Shayla could have thought too, which is why I was confused that she didn't appear angry at Quill at first. I imagine she would have been quite scared and confused, and the language used made me think that somehow she knew he was good from the get-go. I dunno, maybe she suspected something totally different, but just after your house has been raided and the last thing you can remember is running away from an assault, you'd think that you had been captured by those people. Well, that's the way I see it anyway. xD Maybe you see it totally differently.

The video game those two boys were playing sounded hilarious! xD I really quite enjoy your writing style. It's pleasant to read, and you've got a lot of decent description happening. It's clear to see that you're a great writer. :] You do have grammar issues, but they're mostly minor. They don't detract from the overall interesting-ness of your story, though. I also really want to know more about your characters--Sloane and Quill especially. Being sounds awesome. xD

To summarise the points I made:

1. Commas before addressing characters.
2. Use commas to break up sentences appropriately, especially if it can be accidentally misread.
3. Use commas after things like "well" at the start of a sentence, or "like" in the middle of one.
4. Avoid using any numb3rs in your story, especially in speech, unless they're high numbers.


Aside from isolated errors, that's pretty much the gist of what I said. :] I hope this review helps, and I look forward to reading more. c:

[Noblejanobii]

Ok I was reading the whole thing and the fact that you didn't know what a Chick-fil-a is kind of threw me. Is biscuit like the Australian or British or wherever you live for cookie? Like as in this type of cookie:
https://www.meals.com/imagesrecipes/18476lrg.jpg

Lol no, chicken biscuits are not cookies made of chicken. Ok, in America, a biscuit is what is pictured below. Very popular breakfast food. Many fast food chains carry them.
http://farmflavor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/biscuits-whitelily.jpg

A chicken biscuit is literally one of those sliced open liked a sandwich with a slice of chicken in the middle, as displayed below.
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Media/Img/catalog/Food/XLarge/ChickfilA-Spicy-Chicken-Biscuit.png

I didn't realize that wasn't a commonly known term because, where I live at least, when people say "chicken biscuit" we automatically think of the breakfast food.

Ok so beyond that, I have like three more comments to make.
1) Lol Sloane Jackson is actually a really common character for me to use in my stories. Her personality and role tends to switch a little bit between stories, but overall she's the same character. Short temper, bad knee, loves the color purple, and usually a side character. She also usually represents myself in the stories since I usually find it easier to write the stories if I'm actually "involved" in them so there's usually a character that represents me in the stories (though sometimes she goes by the name Kyo Writer if you look at some of my older stories.)
2) I'll edit these in as soon as I can. With exams coming up it might not be until sometime next week or the week following before that happens though.
3) CURSE YOU COMMAS!!

[Suicune's Fire]

BAHAHAHA THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW. Biscuits to me are these:

http://www.cravebits.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/biscuits_top.jpg

Whereas cookies are the things you first posted a picture of. And ooohhh. We call them scones. (Pronounced skons.) Lololol. Or a breakfast muffin, though they're a little different. English muffins; you know, like this:

http://www.foodpeoplewant.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Homemade-English-Muffins-1024x768.jpg

XD Also, if you don't want a HUGE PICTURE, put them in imgsize tags, which are like [img] tags but it's [imgsize=600]picture url![/*imgsize] (But without the *) And you can choose the size where I wrote 600. 600 is the size of the picture above. ^

1) Ooh I see! I used to have characters like that until I decided not to. Lol. I love that there are so many Sloane Jacksons though. XD
2) That's okay! Take your time. :] I'd read the third chapter now if I wasn't going to go out soon. o:< But I'll get there! xD
3) *shakes fist*

[Noblejanobii]

Ah yeah! Those "biscuits" are usually just called cookies where I live. Unless they have a jelly or jam filling, then they're either called "Fig Newtons" or "Tarts."

Yeah I've heard of scones. Though I'm not sure if watching American television making fun of the British is a credible source. But then again, I've actually had I believe it was blueberry scones once. They were like biscuits except really hard. In case that sentence didn't make it obvious, biscuits here are really chewy and soft, like a slice of bread except chewier and fluffier.

Ah yes English muffins! I travel a lot and many of the Mariotts I stay in have English muffins for breakfast though we may be referring to two different kinds of English muffins since we all know America likes to rename things to things they aren't (cough soccer cough).

Yeah more coding stuff to learn. XD Sorry I only know basic BB so size coding is somewhat out of my knowledge.

1) Oh man. You have no idea. My friends and I tried to make a list of all the alternate identities Sloane had in my various stories and roleplays. She was one of my first OCs back in the fifth or sixth grade. We hadn't even gotten out of middle school yet and she already had over 200 different identities. It's crazy.
2) No rush on the reading either. But I will warn you the whole "forced hero" role does actually somewhat fall upon a character that you'll be meeting soon (in chapter 4 or 5 I believe), but not in the way you'd expect.
3) Nah man, whenever someone proofreads my stuff, commas are always the most common error. You'd think I'd learn by now but nope.

[Suicune's Fire]

Oh wow, really? xD Fair enough. x) Differences in language are amazing, even within the same language! xD

Oh I see. Well scones aren't meant to be hard so they were doing something wrong. xD They're meant to be fluffy and doughy. I don't like them that much though. xD

LOL, again, language differences! But we call it soccer too. xD

Haha, it's not really coding stuff! Don't worry. It's simple forum stuff, really. XD It's super easy.

1) OH MY GOSH THAT'S A LOT OF SLOANES. XD
2) Ooh I see! O: I'll look forward to that then! xD
3) Bahaha, well hopefully soon. ;D I mean, I AM a pretty good teacher. *flicks hair* XD


OKAY HERE WE GO. Chapter 3!



"Ah ah ah. Let me finish explaining everything first before I get to that."
I believe this is one of those "Oh, no you don't!" sort of ah-ah-ahs. The way it is, I read it as him saying "Ah" as a noise of understanding. Like when you ask a question and someone answers you, and you go, "Ah, okay." If I'm right about the tone, then I would suggest putting hyphens between them so it's "Ah-ah-ah" instead. This joins the sound better and makes the intention clearer.


"Anyway, the members here at Roman Charioteers form teams, usually of about 8-10 members to balance out the team.
Given what I said about writing out numbers in the previous chapter's review, do you see what I mean about how unnatural it is to read it in speech? Things need to be spelled as words in speech. So this should say "eight to ten." Get rid of aaaalllllll symbols if they're spoken out as words. :]


We all have to work together or else we won't function well as a team and die whenever we face the Greek Riders.
This makes it sound like he's saying they'll die every time they face the Riders. In other words, they'll all repeatedly die, come back to life, then die again when they run into them. xD It IS speech, however, so it's different to narration given that this might be how he speaks, but if you want to make it a little clearer, saying "one or more of us could die whenever we face the Greek Riders" instead might work better. :]


Greek Riders had made an advance in science that surpassed anything out scientists had done earlier.
"out" should be "our." :] I make this typo all the time. xD


They're power houses already but unlike us their bases are active all the time so while we have to take time to activate our bases, they're already using theirs and can easily attack us.
See how long this sentence is right now? With commas, yes, it would be just as long, but intonations would be clearer. If it were me, I'd actually separate it into two sentences like so:



They're power houses already, but, unlike us, their bases are active all the time. So, while we have to take time to activate our bases, they're already using theirs and can easily attack us.


Ever since that advancement they've began to win and they're now attacking governments.
I know it's speech that I'm targeting again, but I thought I should point it out in case you were unsure. This should be "begun," because of the use of "they've," short for "they have." If it was "Ever since that advancement, they began to win" THEN it could be 'began,' but the use of 'have' makes it a past participle, and it turns from 'began' to 'begun.' Like swam and swum, drank and drunk, etc. Again, if HE doesn't know that what he's saying is incorrect, then that's a different story, but as I said, thought I'd point it out in case you didn't know. :]


Pushing in our chairs, Quill lead me to a side corridor that was very dark and very small.
Should be "led" again here. :]


We began to climb up the stairs, the stairs spiraling like spider stairs.
You just said "stairs" three times in one short sentence. xD Also I have no clue what spider stairs are. I would suggest taking out the last two and finding a way to word the sentence so only one 'stairs' makes its way in there. xD


"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" by Fall out boy
It's a band name, and therefore proper nouns. Should be "Fall Out Boy."


Sloane and Quill lead me back downstairs to the main hallway area.
Okay, I suggest doing a CTRL F search through the entire story and replacing all past tense "lead"s with "led" because I'm not gonna quote it every time I see it. xD


He then hit the number twenty-three,
I find it slightly amusing that you write out numbers as symbols in speech, where they should be words, and then write it out in words where it's acceptable to have them as symbols. XD lel.


She has decided to join our team but on the conditions that we tell her what our bases our and get her a base as well.
This should be "what our bases are." :]


"I am Pokemon #715, Noivern the Sound Wave Pokemon.
Although it is okay to have 715 written as symbols, having the hash symbol instead of saying "number" is not. It's a symbol, so banish it from speech to narration! O:<


I also have the characteristic "likes to fight" which increases my attack power.
I can accept everything else game-specific, but this characteristic irks me. The only reason it's in the games is to give players a sense for the IVs of the pokemon, or to make them seem like they have more personality. In a real world scenario, having characteristics like this sort of don't make sense. If, however, Sloane was to then explain that characteristics like this were typically gained once you transformed, then that makes sense. Like, if she explained that there was some sort of 'chart' that contained typical characteristics which had been researched through months/years of study to have certain effects because each person with the same characteristic had something in common... That would make more sense, I think. xD Otherwise it sounds like you're just transferring details from the game that are mechanics specifically created to make pokemon seem more lifelike in that setting. I hope that makes sense.


I have the ability Blaze

I know the moves Eruption, flame wheel, brick break, and aerial ace.
Firstly, I noticed that you didn't capitalise "infiltrator" while in Sloane's paragraph, but you've capitalised blaze here. Similarly, with the attacks, you've capitalised the E in eruption but nothing else. Either capitalise them or don't. Inconsistency isn't good! The same thing also occurs with some of the others' 'title,' like, 'Leaf Pokemon' when you capitalised 'Volcano Pokemon.'


I also have the Mild nature which increases my special attack by lowers my defense.
'by' should be 'but.'


I have the modest nature and have the characteristic "loves to eat" which increases my HP.
Alrighty, this is where the games and the real world of pokemon cannot cross paths properly. HP is a game mechanic that makes it easier for players to understand how much 'life' their pokemon have, right? It doesn't translate to real life. Humans don't have HP. Animals don't have HP. It's solely a game mechanic. Therefore, you need to translate it to something that would make sense for the real world. If she said "which increases my durability," or "which enables me to take more damage than normal," it would be a whole lot better. :]


Our scientists have to test your DNA to determine the bases, generation, and breed best fit for you.
I'm not quite sure, but I think this sentence makes sense. It just sounds awkward because of the way you're using 'fit.' Adding in 'that are the' after 'breed' would make it sound better. Or 'that best fit you' would also work.


Both Quill and I's faces went red.
I's is certainly not correct. xD Do you ever say that? Take out "Both Quill and" to see what word you should be using here. Yes, my. Both Quill and my faces went red. xD Maybe it would be better worded as "Both my face and Quill's went red."


Everything was white and the place stunk of medicine.
Remember what I said about 'began' and 'begun'? Well, you've used the equivalent of 'begun' here. In this case, it's 'stank' and 'stunk.' It should be 'stank' because there is no 'had' before it. :]


Quill opened his mouth to explain but Dr. Mullins stopped his with a wave of his hand.
Should be 'him' and not 'his' after 'stopped.' :]


"Lay back."
Should be 'Lie,' not 'Lay.' Lay is the past tense of lie.


I heard Quill say something just before I descended into darkness,

"Welcome Alice, to the rabbit hole."
Because you put 'something' in there, a comma at the end is incorrect. Get rid of it and the comma is correct. I would also put that on the same line as the speech, but if you were going for a more dramatic, 'the speech is on its own line for extra effect' then that's fine. :]


Another chapter down! I found this one interesting because it described more about the fusions and such, and we got to learn more about the characters too. I had a few issues with the way you had everyone say what they were fused with and such, though, because I found it very mechanical. They all followed the same formula, said everything the same, and as you already know, I had an issue with the way you likened it so much to the games. Usually my opinion is that pokemon should be able to learn more than just four moves because that seems stupidly minimal, but in the case of a human fused with a pokemon, it makes sense that they'd have those kinds of limitations. I mean, there's only so much their bodies are capable of. But the way the characters described their nature, characteristics, attacks, and abilities was too rigid. It was clear that you were taking all that information from the games instead of translating it to real-world stuff. I mean, what the heck is a critical hit in the real world?! In the games it makes sense--it's a lucky hit that happens to do more damage, but that seems a lot less plausible in a real world setting. I mean, half of them have exaggerated attack power, meaning that their moves could be considered permanent critical hits. But just saying all of this stuff without explaining it further to make it believable in real world terms makes it seem a little off. I hope you know where I'm coming from.

I also feel like the way the characters were presenting everything to Shayla could have had more character. Like I said, they basically repeated the format one after the other, with no indication of their character aside from "my nature is blah blah."

Another thing that confused me was when Quill and Shayla kept saying "bases." I had no clue what they were talking about until the group got together and were saying "My DNA base is blah blah." When Quill first mentions DNA bases, he says it once. Then he talks about the Greek Riders and keeps mentioning 'bases' but he doesn't clarify that they're DNA bases. Maybe I'm just stupid but when he first talked about the GR's bases in that speech paragraph, I thought he was talking about bases that were places they had themselves stationed. Like, you know, home-base or 'a base in this location' type of thing. XD Like a hideout or headquarters. When he said that their bases were always active, I was thinking, "Why don't the Romans have their bases active? Why are they inactive? Wouldn't they have guards stationed there and be operating the bases at all times for defence?" XD So yeah, I dunno if I'm just stupid or what. But the bases thing confused me, so maybe if she asks what they are and he briefly explains the term "DNA bases" to her then that might make it easier for silly readers like me.

I enjoyed this one a lot, though. I'm keen to see where this goes and especially what the DNA base is that Shayla gets. Also, I'm really surprised that she didn't ask more questions. I want to know why there were multiple quilava/cyndaquil fused people. XD What's so special about that particular breed? Or were they one of the only pokemon they could get their hands on? I also want to know how they "evolve" their DNA base. I was surprised Shayla didn't ask about that either. Also, I was wondering how pokemon existed if Shayla didn't know about them. And what's the deal with Trebble? He's a full-blown charmander but it wasn't explained if he was originally human, or if he was fully pokemon, or what. If so, can all pokemon speak human language, or is it just him? Also, HOW the heck did they get a hold of legendaries, especially Mew?! It's a wonder.

I'm wondering, is Shayla familiar with pokemon games at all? She seemed to know of its existence, but it was never explained whether or not she plays it, or if she even knows what the species they're talking about all are. I would have liked to see more inner thoughts, especially given that it's a first person story, because there's barely any insight into Shayla's thoughts. Most of the narration is description about what's happening rather than Shayla's feelings or views. I love when you do slip in little things that describe her character, like when she says things like "yep, you guessed it" and other opinionated things. Don't be afraid to chuck them in all the time. I mean, it IS from her perspective, so everything she's seeing has the potential to have an opinion attached to it.


Main things I pointed out:
1. Capitalisation inconsistencies. Make sure you always, or never, capitalise things like abilities, pokemon species, attacks, items, etc. Either one or the other. I don't capitalise any of them personally because I don't consider them proper nouns, but it's up to you.
2. 'Lead' and 'led'! xD So many places.
3. Still about the speech thing. Commas instead of periods at the end with lowercase letters following!
4. Commas before names if they're being addressed, commas after things like "well," commas mid-sentence where they're warranted, etc. I'm sure you can figure this out yourself by reading through it. :]
5. The game-to-real-life stuff. Make sure you're not turning mechanics created for the sake of gaming into story-inclusive elements. This works for a lot of things like abilities and maybe even IVs, but even if you don't describe them the way the games do, it would benefit the story's believability.
6. Character-defining body language, speech and thoughts. This includes Shayla.


Great work so far, though. :] I hope you never take offence to anything I say; I'm really just trying to offer as much input as I can to help you! :D I'm enjoying it so far so expect to hear more from me soon! 8D

[Noblejanobii]

Ok I can't respond to all of this so here's the major cliff notes that I can give you.

1. Why so many quilavas/Cyndaquils? Well, see these guys are actually based on fusion and recolor sprites I made in my spare time. Since quilava is one of the easier Pokemon for me to manipulate it was one of the most commonly used ones I made. Therefore it and Cyndaquils are going to be more common amongst the fusions.
2. Trebble's true identity is intentionally vague since it plays into the plot into the future. He's full on charmander for a reason and it wasn't exactly by his own choosing. That's all I can say for now.
3. Ah yeah I was trying to parallel these to the games as much as possible to show how complex the mechanics with these guys are. HP, in my mind at least, was meant to be like how long they could hold up their base. I guess if I had to explain it, it'd be like that fusions can only go full base for a set amount of time. Their "HP" is the time limit in a sense.
4. How'd they get the DNA? They recreated it to the best of their ability. You haven't met any yet but the Roman Charioteers have very intelligent scientists in their ranks, but I like taking creative liberties with this so IMAGINATION!!
5. I'll try and go back and edit in a base explanation. Sorry, sometimes I forget to explain things because it makes sense to me as an author, so the readers are kind of left to figure it out themselves.
6. Evolving the bases is actually a fairly rare process despite it being talked about so much in that chapter. It's not very important to the plot since Shayla will never evolve her base but to give a brief explanation. When member first get their base, they have to take a test which you'll see in the next chapter. To evolve their base they have to take the test again to see if their base is ready and then undergo an extensive and extremely painful surgery to replace all of their base DNA with new base DNA. If I ever have a Q&A session, you can ask Joey about it and he'll explain it in more depth. XD

Yes language differences! And really? I thought only Americans called it soccer. Are you guys imperial or metric system users?

Ok yeah maybe not the same thing since all the scones here are rock hard.

Still beyond my knowledge.

1) Yes many Sloanes. They don't all have the same last name though. Most of the earlier ones don't even have last names.
2) I swear it's not cliche because the way he is/was a forced hero is different.
3) Lol yes.

[Suicune's Fire]

YES YOU CAN! TRYYYY!!!!!

1. ...Yes, but that doesn't explain the in-story logic. xD If it's YOUR preference, then you need to explain why it's their preference too. You could slip in some bulldust explanation like "This pokemon happened to be the particular species we chose to experiment with for consistency's sake" or something. xD That'd work.
2. Okay, that make sense, but if that's the case, then you need to make allusions to that in the story. Maybe have Shayla ask what his deal is and then she doesn't get a clear answer, which makes her wonder, or something like that. Then it lets the reader know that the writer has thought about it in that much detail and that there IS an explanation for it...just not one that's being revealed yet. Otherwise it just looks like you haven't bothered to address it. xD
3. See, THAT'S a good explanation! So work that into the story. Whenever I ask you stuff like this in comments, I don't mean for you to then go and explain it to me outside of the story. It needs to be incorporated within the story. I'm one reader; what about everyone else who wonders the same thing, and who doesn't know why it wasn't explained in the story? :]
4. xD I meant more like, wouldn't they have to have a source? Go out and capture pokemon and extract their DNA? That is plausible, but finding legendaries to extract DNA from is a wonder. Unless they were volunteers (which could be believable). Also again, explanation within the story is what I'm after. ;]
5. Haha, that's okay. I do that too! It's something authors unconsciously do sometimes so it's normal.
6. Ooh I see. Well, I think the Q&A is unnecessary if it's explained in the story somewhere. xD But I'll keep reading. Maybe I'll get more answers further on.

I find that with stories, a lot of the time, if there isn't an explanation for everything then that's totally okay. It's just that, in order for it to feel like there is an explanation and that the author knows the answer, there needs to be some sort of hint toward it within the story. For instance, Shayla asking a question, or even thinking something about Trebble (as an example). That shows us that the author is aware that there are unanswered complications to the setting, and gives us hope that they'll be answered later on as well. xD

Nup, we do too, because we have our own football sport. It's different to American football/gridiron though. xD And lol. Silly scones. Well they're sort of hard, but that's if they're stale... xD

Where did you come up with the name "Sloane"? O: Was it just a name you liked?

Also waaahh, all this Tri-Kappa Labs reading makes me want to write my own stories. xD I need to get out of my writer's block!

[Noblejanobii]

Nyeh.

1. Well, as it should have been explained, they don't pick their bases. It's randomly decided through a series of tests they go through. That's why Sloane is a purebreed versus a fusion. It was what was most compatible with their DNA when they took the test.

2. I felt I actually played it off quite well by claiming the fact that he was a Pokemon instead of a base user. Quill explained that in chapter… 3 I believe? Briefly yes but he does state that Trebble is a living breathing Pokemon. How is again, intentionally vague, but given the whole science deal it's implied that he was created from scratch.

3. Yeah I'll probably rewrite the chapters at some point or another.

4. Well that's the thing though, it isn't possible since Pokemon technically don't exist in this world since it is based on Earth. The Roman Charioteers scientists created the DNA through various tests and experiments.

5. Eh what can you do?

6. Well since it's not like essential to the plot it will probably be left unexplained unless I need like a filler or something. That's all.

I do think she actually talks to Trebble briefly in one of the other chapters but I can't remember which for the life of me.

What is it then? Like rugby or something? I personally don't like them because they're so hard.

Yeah I guess you could say that. XD It's actually my first name. Jackson isn't my last name, I changed that for obvious reasons.

Well if you ever update let me know so I can read your story.

[Suicune's Fire]

1. Okay, I see. Still though, out of 721 pokemon, Cyndaquil/Quilava were used for a good few of them. Just curious is all. c:

2. I understood that, but I was under the impression that pokemon had been gathered and then their DNA was extracted from them and then used on humans. I actually had no clue the scientists made the pokemon from scratch. o__o Maybe that was a detail I missed. xD Hm.

3. Ah okay. xD Rewriting can be fun! I did that with one of my stories when I began to post them in other places. I was like, "Well I can't post this mess from years before..." Then fixed it all up. It was fun.

4. Riiiiiiight. That is sort of unclear. I thought they did exist but they were hiding somewhere, or something like that. xD I dunno.

5. Have reviewers like me to point things out! 8D

6. I know, but it's still something that can't hurt to explain. xD

I suppose I'll find out the more I read it! And nah, it's not like rugby. Well I guess you could say all football is like each other, but their differences vary. xP Ooh, that make sense about your name, then! xD I was friends with someone on DeviantART called Sloane. She was cool. All Sloanes must be pretty cool, except the one from Eragon. XD And I'll be sure to update my story soon. I've had half a chapter typed up for ages but I haven't finished it. I really need to though. x___x

[Noblejanobii]

1. Yeah, solely because those were the Pokemon I sprite with the most. XD

2. I'll try to make that more clear when I rewrite the story.

3. Dude I can remember doing that for my stories once and I was like "how many typos did I make?"

4. That'd be a cool one and (fun fact) was actually part of the beta plan for this story. Geez the plot has changed so much from when I first came up with the idea for Tri-Kappa Labs.

5. True true.

6. Yeah maybe. Like I said, maybe if I get bored I'll throw in a Q&A just for the heck of it.

Yeah certain plot items will become more clear as time goes on though I can totally see you having an issue with a mechanic I've implemented in the later chapters. XD

Dude, the Hispanics at my school would kill you for saying that. XD Soccer and American football are very different.

It's actually funny because my name is so uncommon that when I see it in the media I'm always so happy about it. Like in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the main female character was named Sloane. The irony of it all was the day I saw that I was actually skipping school for a field trip (which is skipping for nerds :3) and if you've watched the movie you'd get the irony.

Just let me know.

[Suicune's Fire]

1. xD Well as long as it works for the story!

2. Awesome. :]

3. Yeah, same. xD Or silly things that didn't make much sense. They were abundant for me. I used to have super awkwardly worded sentences. xD Glad I grew out of that.

4. I think it's pretty normal for the original idea of a story to warp so dramatically. xD At least, that's how practically all of my stories go. x: I prefer it that way though. :3

6. Lol okay. xD

OH NOOOOO! xD Well I'll get to that I bet! cx

Nuuuu, I meant all of our versions of football, not the soccer version of football. xD That's totally different. I was referring more to the footballs where you can touch it with hands and feet. x)

OH MY GOSH THAT IS AWESOME. XD Yes, I have seen it but I barely remember any of it because it was so long ago. And lol, all I remember is that she was his girlfriend and she showed up at the school pretending to be his mother, and then they made out when they got to the car and the principal (or a teacher or something) was watching. XD And got all freaked out. lelelel. I should watch that again. But that's like my name! It's uncommon as well. xD There was a "Xanthe's Hairdressers" near me at one point, which was exciting, but I never got to go there before it closed down. xD Oh well. There can be only one anyway!!!

I'm not going to work on my main pokemon story first; instead, I want to finish a darn one-shot that I started back in 2013. I need to finish it! xD Then to my regular story it is. :] I haven't written it in over a year... :[

(My orange text is slowly consuming more of my posts... >:3)

[Noblejanobii]

1. There will be others I promise.

3. Eh maybe one day I will too.

4. You want to hear the old plot?

Lol football.

*applauds* Cery nice.

Lol have fun with that.

(Slowly but surely)

[Suicune's Fire]

There's only really one thing worth responding to, and yes! I would love to hear the old plot. xD Not that I really know the new one yet. x)

[Noblejanobii]

Well the main difference between the two is that in this story there's humans and gijinkas, but in the original it was just fusemon. It opened up with them being produced in a factory, with the main character (Shaylava) waking up to consciousness. She notices immediately that no one else seems to be aware, their eyes glazed over. Then the instant she spots someone that has clear eyes, that individual is incinerated. Shaylava freaks out mentally then realizes she's about to pass the check point that individual got incinerated at. She freezes and tries to pass as a mindless individual. By some miracle, she gets through and is sent to one of the three sections of the laboratory. If I remember correct she got sent to the "Fighting" section or something like that but it's been several years since this story. So she goes a day living here only to be cornered by another fusemon, Dewfezant. He says she's not playing the whole mindless individual very well and offers to teach her. They begin to work together and soon their supervisor, Unpunny, sends them to the next area, the Survival Area. Here they learn how to survival in the wild and whatnot, Shaylava being a natural at this area. There they meet two other fusemon that aren't mindless, Vulveeon and Cyndamin. After about two weeks they plan to move on again when their supervisor, Haxozard, requests that Shaylava stay behind so that she can be his successor. Unpunny and the head of the facility agree, so the group must move on without her. Shaylava trains separate from everyone else from then on, and after what seems like months they "awaken" her (even though she's technically already awake). However, soon after this happens there's an explosion in the next area over, the Intelligence area (I think). During the time Shaylava was training, Dewfezant, Cyndamin, and Vulveeon met two other awake fusemon, Quillmin and Umbretails. They ended up sabotaging an experiment set up by their supervisor, Shikachu. They ended up trying to flee the facility but are stopped by the three supervisors and Haxozard orders Shaylava to kill the rogues. When she refuses they realize she is one of them and send them all to the dungeons below the building. There they meet the man in charge, Mewthree. He explains the whole reason he founded Tri-Kappa Labs was to stabilize his form since prior to the founding it was quite erotic. After injecting the DNA of every Pokemon into him, he stabilized and became the ultimate being. Then he created an army of fusions to take over the world, you know the usual villain stuff. The group vows to defeat him, he tells them they're too late, then leaves. They try to escape but there's no way out. Everyone except Shaylava becomes depressed earning a pep talk from Shaylava. They ended up escaping (I can't remember how but it had something to do with explosions). Alarms start blaring and they try to make their escape. The supervisors try to stop them but end up joining them as the whole place collapses. In the midst of it all, Mewthree says he's not going down alone and uses psychic to prevent Unpunny, Haxozard, Shikachu, Dewfezant, Vulveeon, and Umbretails from leaving. They whole place collapses down on them and only Shaylava, Quillmin, and Cyndamin make it out alive. The epilogue skipped almost a decade into the future where the place had become a sanctuary for fusemon with the only living three main characters acting as guardians. Shaylava and Quillmin had a kid they named Citrus, he was a Shayquil because he looked very different from Cyndamin. The epilogue gives a description of the place and how much it changed from Shaylava's perspective. She reminiscences about the days ten years prior and breaks down into tears. The story ends with her looking out over a nearby lake and seeing something in the water's reflection. She looks up just in time to see a familiar figure, Mewthree, soaring in the sky just before he jumps into a portal.

There was supposed to be a sequel titled Beyond the Sanctuary where Shaylava, Quillmin, Cyndamin, and Citrus all leave the sanctuary in pursuit of Mewthree. I actually found a few notes on this mentioning that they would travel across a region called Ascater. The whole place had anti-fusemon laws so it's hard for the group to navigate around but the reason they have these laws is because Mewthree has taken over the Champion's mind. The group ends up going to the Champion and he battles them using the mind controlled versions of Dewfezant, Umbretails, Vulveeon, Shikachu, Unpunny, and Haxozard. They end up defeating the Champion and having to face Mewthree. They defeat him but only after snapping out their friends and the whole group attacking as one. They defeat Mewthree once and for all then head back to the Sanctuary to continue as guardians of the place.

[Dragon Master Mike]

I know I said it would probably take a while before I got around to starting to read this, but it took even longer than I thought. I'm regretting not looking sooner though because I really like it so far! I only read the first two chapters, but I'll read more soon.

[Noblejanobii]

Dragon Master Mike That's alright! I'm glad you like it. More chapters will be coming soon and since I know there's a lot posts in between each chapter there is a table of contents in the first post in case you didn't see it.

[Noblejanobii]

So, I have little excuse to explain why I haven't updated this is several months other than I've lost inspiration. To be quite honest, I started writing this because I wanted to show my writing skill. However, I didn't plan out the plot much at all, and the story suffered as a whole. Honestly, looking back, it's not very well written at all and I'm ashamed of it. Thus, I have deemed these chapters no longer canon to the story.

So, what does this mean for Tri-Kappa Labs as a whole? Well, I have zero intention on dropping this story. I've dropped it three times already on other sites and I don't want that trend to resume here. This is probably my favorite plot of Tri-Kappa Labs and I don't want to abandon it yet. That being said, I want to put together a script first before I continue this story. It will benefit my writing as a whole to put together a script before I actually start writing. When you'll see an update is up for debate because I do have a very busy schedule this year, so we'll see. You probably won't see many major changes until Shayla gets her base. Prior to that there won't be many changes. This is solely because, as many of you know, besides chapter 1, these were mainly informational chapters to help explain to the reader the basics of the plot. Therefore, there isn't much that really can be changed besides the delivery of the information. You also probably won't see much change in character line up either but their personalities and such will be altered to make more sense. I also plan to attempt a short story that details the travels of a few of my dearest partners. More to come on that as time progressed though. But, before I depart, I leave you with the new and (hopefully) improved chapter 1 of Tri-Kappa Labs.

[Noblejanobii]

Chapter 1

-Son of a Bench-

November 15, 11:59 PM.

I was working on a paper, alone in my home. It was eerily quiet but I had grown used to the feeling and paid no heed to it. After all, one does not become a veterinarian by procrastinating on assignments and being spooked by spine tingling silences. Plus, I had tried to fall asleep earlier but to no avail. That's a reasonable excuse to not sleep, right?

I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard the grandfather clock from downstairs chime out midnight. Bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… Tickety, the grandfather clock, quieted down after that twelfth strike and I began to resume my work. A chill suddenly crept up my spine and I hesitated. The air around me suddenly felt tense. It didn't normally feel like this. I slowly closed the lid of my computer and placed it on the floor beside my bed. Tension crawled up my skin as I leaned over to the window beside my bed and parted the curtains.

My eyes scanned the scene, taking time adjust to the darkness. Trees rose up like the forest my backyard was. I could see the porch a few feet to the window's right and the hot tub about ten feet down. In the distance, tucked between two large oak trees, was a wooden bench on a brick platform. I sighed, scanning the area one more time. It appeared my nightly fears were getting the best of me. I started to pull away from the window when I saw something. A flicker of movement by the bench.

I leaned closer to the window and watched intently. It was several minutes before I saw it again. There, behind the right oak tree by the bench, I saw the shape of a man shift. Questions began to flood into my head. What was this man doing? Why was he here? I was so focused and confused that the sudden crack of sound nearly knocked me off the bed. I tumbled back a little and had to scrabble to sit back up. I barely was able to catch sight of the man duck behind my bench. There was another crack and I saw a flash of light from under the porch. There was no mistaking it. That was a gun shot!

My breathing started to come more quickly as the shots continued. This was crazy! Were they not worried someone would call the police? The idea dawned on me. The police! I slapped around on my nightstand for my cellphone. My fingers curled around the iPhone 5 and yanked it from its charger. My shaking fingers could barely type in my passcode and I missed the phone app twice before finally click it correctly. Once that was open, it was much less difficult to hit in the numbers and I could hear the ringing echoing through the speakers.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator spoke up. I looked out my window at the scene and answered,

"Yes, this is Shayla Cortez, I'm at 105 Tesel Tree Court. There's a shooter at my house. He's under my porch and he's firing at someone in my backyard."

"And how are you able to see this, ma'am?"

"I'm in my bedroom on the second floor and I can see them both from my window."

"Okay, ma'am, I'm going to need you to stay close to the window but please try to stay out of sight. It was not be good for either party to see you. And-" I never heard what she said next. The window across the room from me suddenly burst open and I shrieked as a large bat-like creature crawled into my room through the shattered window. It growled and approached me faster than my eyes could catch, snatching my phone away from me and crushing it in its claws.

"Can't let you do that," it growled to me in a deep, gruff voice, "we tend to want to stay undetected." I shrieked again, causing the monster to frown. It sighed loudly and mumbled, "I was afraid of this." It took a step back then closed its eyes. Suddenly a low-pitched sound hit my ears and my eyelids felt very heavy. Everything slowly went dark as I felt my body hit the cushion of my bed. The last thing I heard was a male voice.

"Take her in."