Chapter 16
The problem with planning a war is what you don't know. I had some amatuer experience in the method, but we needed experts.
Thankfully, Deadshot and Giovanni had different levels of ability to bring to the table.
"Their code of honor may seem dumb, but it's actually made them an interesting threat to take on," Deadshot said. Even without a mask, he seemed to have little to no expression on his face, making him hard to read. "Sustained conflict has always been where they have the advantage. When they can't bring their crazier weapons to the field, the dragons are pushovers. But then… Someone decides to get smart. One time, this guy from Metropolis showed up in Oahu, tried to take over with some gear he stole from Lexcorp. Some kind of handheld lasers he got out of their tech division. Next thing we knew, they brought out the exact same tech and wiped the floor with him. Experimental, illegal, weapons tech. And they just brought it out when they needed it."
"How?" I asked. "Lex ain't exactly the most generous sort."
"Who knows? That's just one story. Anytime someone starts a brawl with them, they spring some kind of trap. I've killed a few of their people, but I'm exempt from most of their rules. Only use guns."
"And math," I said with a sigh. "Okay. The escalation thing is a problem. I don't like having an enemy that has a cap I don't know about. But fine."
"I do think we have options on that end," Giovanni leaned back. "As a man with a history of the seedier side of life, I know what it takes to run a gang. And one of those things is making the money look clean. Having six million in an account is nice, until people ask questions about where you got it."
"Money laundering. Huh," I hadn't thought of that, to be honest. Rainbow Rockets had a lot more issues looking legit, considering they were from another dimension and were universally hated in the one they found themselves in.
"The FBI has been working several angles on that for years," Roxy said with a frown. "So have the police. They shut down a few places over the years, but nothing in recent months. Maybe we can find something there, or ask someone on the inside?"
"You want to bring in Sam?" Giovanni smiled. "I'd love to. I like him. Great sense of humor."
Roxy gave him a look like he'd gone crazy. "You kidding? Sam hates you!"
"Maybe we should bring him in," Giovanni mused.
"No!"
The Rocket Leader smirked, but nodded his assent. "The idea still has merit. Finding out if law enforcement have any ideas on who is cleaning the dragons money will be very useful to us. I think we need a different angle just in case."
"I can help," Kalini said. He'd been staring at the Pokemon around him with wide eyes, focused on the Nido's horns, Slugma oozing around us happily, and Mudkip sitting on my head and bobbing around as I moved. "The Silicon Dragons like tourist traps for their laundering. People pay cash a lot, make massive transactions, tip huge at restaurants. And the Dragons have some fans. Traditionalists who think those maniacs are protecting Hawaii from greater threats."
"We'll need a list then," Alakazam stroked his chin. "In fact, we will need many things. Do you have one of my requests ready?"
"Of course," Giovanni said. "A computer was selected by my engineers. What are you thinking, Alakazam?"
"We begin compiling our information, work from the bottom up. Not just on the dragons, but on the criminal underground of Hawaii in general, it's history, it's present," Alakazam said dramatically. "Information, in this as in all things, is power."
I nodded. "In the meantime. We need to protect each other. If a single one of us gets knocked down, the rest of us fall to. Except you," I pointed at Deadshot. "I figure if the rest of us get taken out you'll shrug and walk off into the sunset."
Deadshot shook his head. "I'm a professional. I stay until the job is done."
"Which is the same as saying you'll leave if we all end up dead," I said. "That's not some judgement or something, I'm asking if you'd be willing to do a giant revenge at all costs, thing if things end up like that."
Floyd's mustache twitched. "Depends on how much you pay me."
"You take cash?"
"I do. I'll work out an estimate and get back to you."
"Great," I looked around. Giovanni had an amused look on his face, while Kalini and Roxy looked at me like I was crazy. Nidoqueen had walked over to Slugma, watching the tiny slug buzz around, while Mimikyu was sneaking over towards an unsuspecting Roxy. "That done, back to business. Our plan is obviously that I'm the giant friendly target everyone shoots at."
"Kid, you are way too cavalier about this kind of thing," Kalini mumbled.
"It's true. I'm already a public figure, and people have applied the hero thing to me. So that means I can act like the big and obvious distraction to the real damage. I fight them like a dumb tank, take out their obvious operations and operatives, have them think I'm their main threat. And you guys take out their support structure."
"Then we'll need to find a big and obvious target for you," Giovanni said casually. "Something appropriate. And somewhere to house Kalini with the police after him."
"Kalini?" I looked over at him, confused. "What happened?"
"That FBI agent who's been hunting you figured out that I'm the guy who's been seen with you everytime we go out."
A shot of guilt went through me. Damnit. I should have considered that. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he said shakily, smirking. "It was kinda interesting. Never spoke to the FBI before."
"What can they do to him, legally speaking?" Giovanni asked Roxy.
"Depends on what they have," Roxy pursed her lips, not noticing Mimikyu looking up at her curiously. "I'll work to keep him out of prison. I can argue that he's a witness, not an actual criminal," I got the feeling she was really dumbing down what the legal process would be, for our sakes. "Still, he'll need a place to stay in the meantime- Oh. Hello there."
Mimikyu was pressed against Roxy's leg, looking up at her. "Mimikyu!"
Roxy smiled. For a moment, the lawyer was replaced by a young girl. "Aren't you cute!"
She might as well have made Mimikyu's day. The tiny Pokemon wiggled happily, her costume head bouncing up and down with the motion. "Mimikyu, Kyu!"
Roxy lowered a hand to pet Mimikyu, smiling at the sheer joy in the costumed ghost's voice. She looked up at Mudkip, then at Giovanni. "So your whole world is filled with cute animals?"
Giovanni chuckled. "Well, a few. But some will grow up," he looked meaningfully at Nidoking, who was still meeting Tyrunt's eyes.
"And do they all end up looking like Ultraman bad guys?" Kalini asked, revealing he was a man of culture.
"No. Some of them become dragons," I answered. "Kalini, do you need a place to stay?"
"I can provide lodging if you like?" Giovanni said.
"Or you can stay with us," I offered.
Kalini looked between Giovanni and I. For a moment, he seemed to think. Then he sighed. "Yeah, I'll stay with you kid. No offense," he said to Giovanni.
Giovanni blinked. He seemed slightly surprised, but also intrigued. "Very well. Then I suppose all that is left is our plan. Which is to wait and learn more."
"We came to plan, to have a plan?" Kalini asked curiously.
"Hurry up and wait," Giovanni, Deadshot, and I said in unison. I continued. "Honestly, this is a step forward. We've established our basic roles. I'll be front and center, Deadshot takes out things from the background, Giovanni and you work with Roxy to pick targets, and the Pokemon are our army. You guys cool with that?"
"Gurdurr," the fighting type said, twirling his I-Beam around.
"Mud."
"Now, about training?" I asked Giovanni.
"Come by in two days," Giovanni said. "I'll have something set up for you."
"That'll have to do then. In the meantime, I guess I need to do hero things…" I sighed. "Which means I need to go out on patrol."
"You need to do that?" Roxy asked.
"If I'm going to be a public threat, I need to keep being a public figure," I said with a shrug. "Okay then. Tomorrow, Kahu Ki goes on patrol."
"Kahu Kiaʻi," Roxy said.
"What?"
"You mispronounced it. It's Kahu Kiaʻi."
"...I finally get a superhero name. And I can't even pronounce it."
------
In a flash of light, Alakazam and I reappeared in our home again with the rest of my Pokemon. And one passenger.
"Whoo!" Kalini coughed, shaking his head. "That was… weird. You go around like that all the time?"
"It's a most convenient form of travel, despite the parameters I must follow for it," Alakazam said, watching Kalini pat slowly at himself, the Hawaiian man pressing his palms against his chest, back, buttocks, and groin. "Are you... well?"
"Yeah, just making sure I have all my bits," Kalini said, sighing in relief when he was done.
The rest of us stared at him. Then Mudkip, Gurdurr, Slugma, Mimikyu and Tyrunt all looked down at themselves.
Alakazam scoffed, offended. "As if I would ever make such a mistake!"
"Okay. And there is not gonna be a clone of me or something back where we were?" Kalini asked. Then he became pale. "Oh god! Am I a clone!?"
"No! Where are you getting these hairbrained ideas!?"
"That's how it works in Star Trek!"
"What in Arceus' name is Star Trek?"
"Kalini, calm down," I said with a sigh. "You aren't going to lose parts, get clones, get time traveled, get ported to an alternate universe, split in half… Well, basically you'll be fine, I promise."
He breathed a sigh of relief, while Alakazam continued to look offended. "Star Trek. What sort of foolishness…"
"Mudkip!"
I was surprised by that, and looked down at the little guy. "Really? You aren't tired?"
"Mud!"
"What's he saying?" Kalini asked curiously.
"He wants to go for a swim," I said. After a moment I shrugged. "Yeah, sure bud. Just try to be back before dinner, okay?"
"Kip, Mudkip!" he jumped up to give me a hug, then leaped off and into the water.
"Is that really going to be okay?" Kalini asked.
"It should be," Alakazam said. "The list of things off shore that could hurt him are very small. And he's a smart one."
He nodded slowly, then looked around. I patted Kalini on the back. "Come on. Let me show you around."
We all walked off together, unworried about Mudkip as we started walking Kalini around our gym/home. If only I'd known.
------
Mudkip/Mako
Mudkip dived into the water and sighed happily at the feel of cold water around him. While he preferred swamps and rivers, the ocean was becoming something he had a lot of familiarity with.
He left the harbor of the cave and entered the ocean proper, cartwheeling his way deeper into the chill waters. He swam quickly through the water, enjoying the currents bouncing him around.
This world was very interesting. Mahmoud, his master, had told him a bit about Earth before they found themselves in the version of it. Including it's oceans. Of course, this wasn't that Earth. Some other one. Mudkip wasn't sure what the real difference was. He just enjoyed the experience of a new ocean.
He went out into the section of ocean where shipping vessels crossed past Hilo, and floated for a moment, staring upwards. Since getting to the new oceans, he'd been mapping it out. Tracking how currents moved, figuring out where prey and predators lived, and where humans roamed. This place was strange. Back home, people weren't so cavalier about where they would take their boats. They seemed to go wherever they wanted.
Gyarados, Kingdra, and other Pokemon made it so that they had to be careful about where in the ocean they went. Sailors were trained fighters, with Pokemon helping to keep their boats safe.
Here though, Mudkip could see a fat looking hull slowly make its way through the waters, uncaring of the sharks that sometimes went by. Humans must have been safer here. Still, the water was also dirtier. Mudkip had last week cut a piece of plastic off the neck of a seal. It hadn't thanked him. Animals here were much ruder than any Pokemon.
Such as the shark currently coming towards him.
"Mudkip," sighed the tiny blue being, looking over at the animal in question.
It was bigger than Sharpedo's were. Not as wide around, but much longer. It had a pattern across it's gray skin like a Zebstrika's, striped a bit.
It came towards him, and slowly circled. Mudkip watched it. If it was anything like other sharks he'd encountered… there it was.
The sixteen-foot-long animal snapped it's teeth at him. Mudkip waited until it was close enough. Then he smacked it silly with his tiny paw. Its head snapped to the side. The water in his paw swirled around and around, instantly engulfing the confused animal in a swirling mass of water.
The animal was sent spinning back like a top, the water churning in his wake, before the small whirlpool flowed away. After a long moment, the shark shook its head. The big dummy wasn't smart enough to be surprised. It just turned and swam away as fast as possible.
"Mudkip, kikikiki!" he giggled to himself, his paws lifting his mouth. Animals in the world may not have been smart, but they were very funny!
Mudkip cartwheeled in the ocean and started swimming again, when something tickled his mind. He followed the mental nudge, getting close to home, until Alakazam could finally link up with him.
"Mudkip, I'm glad you were still close enough to feel my mind," Alakazam said in what he thought was a grand manner. Personally Mudkip thought he sounded pretentious. "I've been working on our information on possible locations of interest to us. Kalini mentioned an aquarium he was told to send some shipments to."
"Mudkip," another voice, much harsher, less clean sounding, came over the link. "Can you go investigate it on your own? I don't want you to get in any fights or something, but if you can swim in the water near the aquarium and find out if any of the dragons are using the place for their dirty business, we might have a first target."
Mudkip hummed to himself, cartwheeling slowly through the water with a hand to his chin. "Mudkip?"
"The Maui Ocean Center in Wailuku."
Alakazam sent a mental image of the map of Hawaii. It wasn't too far for Mudkip. Now that he knew the oceans of Hawaii better, he could make such journeys more easily, following the currents for more speed, like that fish movie they'd watched together that had the turtle scene.
"Mudkip."
"...I mean, you aren't supposed to look for a fight if you can avoid one-"
"Kip!"
"Wait, that isn't permission-!"
Sadly, Mudkip didn't hear the full message from his master. Still, he understood the gist of it. He did trust his master and appreciated that he worried for Mudkip.
Even so. Mudkip twisted through the ocean at high speed, a devil may care grin on his face. It had been a while since he'd gone on a solo adventure!
-----
Mudkip approached the aquarium as the sun was going down, popping his head up to look at it. He quirked his head to the right, the fin on his head waving in the wind. "Kiiiiip."
It wasn't what he'd expected. It was shorter, for one. Mudkip had an image in his head of a massive building, holding lots of snacks. Instead, it was more of a series of buildings, a lot with solar panels. He approached slowly, looking around. The place must have closed or was closing soon. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and all he could hear was the sound of wind passing through the palm trees.
He swam over to the section of docks set up almost directly in front of the aquarium, with a parking lot in the space between the docks and the aquarium. He hopped up onto the docks and looked around. No one was around, the two boats that were parked in the docks were small ones that he would have noticed someone inside of.
He kept an eye out and carefully hopped over to a tree near the aquarium. It looked empty…
Which meant he could have some fun!
"Mudkip," he whispered gleefully.
Using all the stealth he had learned from hunting Rocket grunts, he went from tree to tree, moving up a hill and then hopping over a fence. Just like that, he started walking down a pathway, looking around the aquarium curiously.
It was rather nice. All paved pathways, palm trees, and nice buildings. He noticed a map and hopped over to it. Mudkip looked up at the map for a good long moment.
"..." he didn't know how to read. It wasn't something he'd ever had to learn. His master liked reading, and told him a lot of stories, like the one of Dresden the Wizard. But Mudkip himself had never learned how. Until that moment, it hadn't ever been something he had to worry about!
After a bit of frustration, Mudkip shook his head and simply focused on the image of the map as a whole, ignoring the words. He was on the orange circle pointing at a single point, obviously, the pathways lined up. So that way would lead to a place with a picture of a shark. The other to something that had a picture that looked like a weird Wailord. And that way had tiny fish…
For a moment, Mudkip was very tempted to go that way. He was feeling a bit peckish… No. He had work to do.
Mudkip grabbed a paper map from the holster holding a bunch of them next to the plastic one, and started roaming about.
For an hour or so, Mudkip simply roamed around the aquarium, taking in the sights. He walked up to a place with hammerhead sharks. Down to another section with animals that looked like the various turtle Pokemon he'd seen, in this case green Tirtouga or Carracosta's.
In fact, Mudkip found the similarities between this world's animals and Pokemon kinda funny. It was like someone had taken Pokemon, removed everything that made them powerful, and dropped them on this planet like a lazy artist running out of ideas.
He roamed, bored after an hour of walking, past the entrance. It was interesting, but at some point he was just seeing animals in captivity. He could see all these creatures out in the ocean. And eat/fight them.
As he thought about that, a light came from the entrance. He dropped the paper map in his mouth and ran towards a pond next to the entrance, labeled something he couldn't read. The water there had strong currents, but he kept control of himself, looking out at the entrance.
A woman shouted. Mudkip's eyes narrowed. Appearing at the entrance were four people. Two were an Asian man and black woman shoving a wheelchair along. Inside the wheelchair was a petite woman with short blonde hair. She was struggling against bindings that lashed her to the chair, screaming.
"Let me go! Let me-!"
The last man, a tall Hawaiian with long hair pulled into a ponytail, came up from behind and smacked her in the face. "Shut up!"
Mudkip's eyes narrowed.
The woman stared at the ground for a moment, then spat out blood. She grinned up at him with blood stained teeth. "What, I'm supposed to be scared because you'll beat up a cripple?"
He didn't flinch from the insult. "I don't give a shit about your legs. What I want is your mind."
She stared at him, defiance tinged with confusion. "Who are you guys?"
"We're the Silicon Dragons," the black woman said with a smug smile.
The blond seemed worried at that, but still defiant. "Good for you. Why do you want me?"
"We don't. What we want is your research. Specifically, the research locked in the computers of this aquarium," the Hawaiian man said.
"My medical- seriously?" she stared at them, defiance replaced with befuddlement. "That's for helping people like me! For curing paralysis! Seriousl-"
"Stop, stop," the Asian man waved the black woman and Hawaiian man back. Then he moved in front of the blonde woman. "Grace. I think we've confused each other here. Let me lay this out."
"Kip," Mudkip whispered to himself. He grabbed a fish that was swimming next to him and tossed it into his mouth as he kept his eyes on the action.
"...Do I know you?" the woman, Grace apparently, said slowly, her eyes wide.
The man smiled. "Lets walk and talk."
"..." Grace looked down at her legs, motionless in her wheelchair, then up at the man with a sarcastic grin. "That some kind of joke?"
The man's gentle smile cracked a bit. Mudkip chuckled under his breath. The Asian man circled around her and began pushing the wheelchair, his comrades following. Mudkip waited till they had made some distance, then hopped out of the pool to start following, keeping to the shadows as best as he could.
"Grace Balin, an intern who is currently on the fasttrack to a Ph.D in Marine Biology and Bio-Medicine. I believe you're supposed to head back to Gotham in a year once you complete your internship? That's very impressive."
"What, do you have my trading card?" Grace said. She swallowed nervously as they went down the dark pathways.
"No. But we did our research before we agreed to fund you."
Grace stilled. She twisted in her chair slightly, despite her bonds. "You!?"
"Yes. I think I used the name, 'Danny Kolberg'?" he shrugged, hands twisting on the handles of Grace's wheelchair. "It's not unusual for us. The Silicon Dragons are not some simple gang. We do care about the environment, about the goals of science. Your research could lead to an end to paralysis!"
"Sorry, the blood in my mouth is making it hard to hear."
The man scoffed. "What is it about modern teenagers, that they have decided snark is the best form of communication? Ms. Balin, you are an incredible scientist. But you seem to see your success as a failure."
Grace scowled. "No. I just… my serum isn't a cure yet. The effects it has on DNA are too transformative. I want to cure people. Not make monsters."
"Not monsters. Soldiers."
She twisted to glare at him. "You think I got into this to make killers?"
He smirked down at her. "History is rife with science that eventually benefits the populace being used for military applications. Your serum may one day cure the world of some of its worst pains. But the dragons require it for another purpose."
"Goodie for you. I'm not helping you."
"You don't have a choice."
They entered a building, the door closing behind them.
"Kip," Mudkip ran over to the building and jumped up to the handle, opening the door slowly before dropping and slipping inside.
"What was that?" the black woman said at the sound of the door closing.
Mudkip rushed behind an exhibit that had statues of seals cavorting on it, his paws silent on the carpet floor.
The black woman went up to the doors, a gun in her hand. She looked around, confused. Mudkip patted his way carefully away from her, circling Grace and the other dragons all looking towards the doors. With a gentle jump, he landed on top of a tube of water containing small fishes, and hunkered down, staring at the people below. As they continued to look for him, he thought things through.
He'd been told to get as much information as he could. So far, he was doing a great job! Mudkip's tail wagged happily. These guys wanted a serum that could make monsters. Maybe they wanted to be like Pokemon? That was smart.
This Grace woman didn't want to help though. She talked a bit like Master did. Mudkip liked that.
So Mudkip would wait and see what would happen so he could learn as much as he could. But if someone hurt her again, he was going to break their legs.
They stopped looking for him and entered the room in the back, taking their time with it. Mudkip hopped silently from exhibit to exhibit, following along before dropping into the room they entered, slipping inside.
After a short walk through a hallway, they got to a place that looked very sciency. Blue tanks full of water, tables with lights shining down on pools set inside tables, lots of syringes and stuff everywhere.
"My lab," Grace said quietly.
"Nostalgic, is it?" the Asian man said with a chuckle. "Bryce, bring our people in."
The Hawaiian man nodded, walking out. Mudkip went under a table and sat on his haunches, watching as the black woman and Asian man went with Grace to a safe. Grace, seeing the safe, began to struggle, but the Asian man ignored her.
"It was surprising, to know how advanced the security on your safe was," he mused. "A breath lock, fingerprint scanner, with cold fridge-tech, and enough steel to make a car. How much of that was paid for with our funding?"
"Fuck you!" Grace said.
"I would, but I don't find cripples attractive," the Asian man said.
The Hawaiian man walked back into the room. With him was a group of five men.
"Where are the rest?" the Asian man asked.
"They're bringing the boat around."
"Hn. I suppose five will be a good start," he grabbed Grace's head and dragged her over to the safe.
"Ahhh!" Grace screamed. Mudkip held his breath.
The man mechanically moved Grace, ignoring her struggles. When she refused to breath on the safe, he simply held her there until she had no choice. He removed her right hand from it's bindings and shoved her hand up against the glass. The lock on the safe popped open, and the door swung open, a chill burst of wind coming from the fridge.
"There it is," the Asian man breathed.
"Please," Grace gasped. "That's all I have. I still need to fix it."
"Yes, and that will require test subjects," he said softly, reaching slowly forward. "Allow the dragons to be your first willing volunteers. The beginning of your legacy."
"Mudkip."
Everyone froze when the blue finned Pokemon spoke, his voice echoing in the halls. Everyone, Grace, the Asian man, the Black woman, Bryce, and the five people who had just come in, turned around.
Mudkip stared up at them cutely, smiling, his fin waving.
"...Fuuuuuck," one of the men said, going from confusion, to realization, and finally to depressed acceptance.
Then a blast of water hit two of the men, sending them back.
"Shoot it!" the Asian guy screamed.
Mudkip ran in, water surrounding him, and flew past them, crashing into the Asian man like a waterfall meeting a river. The Asian man screeched while he flew back, finally crashing into a blue water tank. Mudkip spun to land in Grace's lap, smiling up at her.
"Kip!"
"AHHHH!" Grace shouted in fear and confusion, staring at the animal the size of a puppy that had sent a man flying ten feet..
The dragons aimed their guns at her and Mudkip puffed his cheeks. They were about to open fire. Grace screamed. From Mudkip's mouth came a wave of water that filled the space in front of him.
"Shit!"
"What in god's name!"
The dragons screamed and shouted as they were swept up in a deluge, the force of an ocean wave coming from his place on Grace's lap as she stared in wonder. When they were pushed out of the room. Mudkip turned to her.
"Kip!" he sliced through her binding with his teeth, looked over at the safe and pointed with his paw. "Mudkip!"
"W-What?" Grace said.
Mudkip sighed. Why were humans here so bad at talking? He pointed at her. Then at the safe. Then he pantomimed running away.
"O-Oh!" Grace was at least smart. She turned the wheelchair around and pulled the safe door wide open, reaching in and pulling out a tray with several test tubes filled with a gray-white fluid, then pulled out a small device that looked like a gun with a syringe attached to the end. "Okay, lets go!"
Mudkip let out a bark, hopped behind her, and began pushing her wheelchair.
"Whoa!" Grace shouted, waving her arms to balance before relaxing. "Warn me next time!"
"Mudkip!"
"Do you say anything else?"
He sighed internally. Honestly, he'd been talking a lot. It was her that wasn't listening. Humans here were so weird.
Behind them, the sounds of more people resounded. Mudkip pushed her just a bit faster, and the two burst through a pair of doors, entering a long tunnel made of glass.
The tunnel was surrounded in water. Fish swam past the glass in the light of the moon, waves of the silver hue coming through the water in ripples.
A crashing sound was the signal for dragons coming through the door and following behind them.
"...They can't get their hands on it," Grace whispered. Mudkip ignored her, instead giving her another shove and spinning to face two men running towards them, still dripping wet from Mudkip's Surf attack. He hit one with an ice beam, sending him to the floor, then leapt up and smacked the other aside with his tail as the man tried to stab Mudkip with a katana. Another guy came through the door and shot Mudkip in the face, the bullet embedding in his skin and tossing him back.
Mudkip rolled as he landed, ignoring the pain to blast that guy with boiling water from his lips, the high temp of the water scalding the man severely even as it tossed him into the glass tunnel with a thump, sending a hammerhead shark outside twisting away.
"Hold them off!" Grace shouted. "I can stop this!"
Hold them off? Mudkip blinked. He was winning! Besides, if they did anything crazy, he would break the glass and send them into the water. See them win while they were in his world.
He dodged a bullet, jumped from the ground, onto the glass ceiling, then came down with all four paws on the face of the black woman. He opened his mouth and hit her with a water gun between the eyes, the force sending him back-flipping away and her into the ground.
Mudkip landed on the ground and puffed his orange cheeks, glaring at his opponents with a bit of blood going down his forehead. "Kiiiiiiiip."
One of the dragons lifted his gun. Another raised a knife. For a tense moment, they stared at him, as their friends ran to join them.
The Asian Man came after his friends, snarling. Then he stared at something behind Mudkip. "NO! Dr. Balin!"
Mudkip looked behind him.
Grace tossed aside a test tube. All of the test tubes, once full of that strange liquid, around ten or so, were empty, discarded in her lap. She stared at the syringe gun in her hand. Mudkip realised that was why she'd said to hold them off. She wanted to fill the syringe gun.
She lifted it up to her neck. Her smile was broken. "You wanted test subjects!?"
"Stop her!" the Asian man shouted.
The dragons rushed forward. And Mudkip, seeing them raise submachine guns, surrounded himself in waves of water, rushed forward, and crashed into the group just as they began shooting, sending them into the walls before he hit the glass with all his power at the point where the tunnel met the building.
"Fuck it!" the Asian man screamed. "Bring out the big guns!"
Mudkip could hear Grace scream, hear bones break and flesh rip, while her voice began to echo in the tunnel. He bounced back as the Asian man, Bryce, and one other person pulled out guns.
Since coming to this world, he'd seen guns a couple of times. He'd never seen one with a big glowing green tube for a barrel.
The three men fired, emerald beams of light aiming for him. Mudkip hit the laser blast that was coming for him with an ice beam, the blasts meeting in the center and exploding. The explosion of the ice beam attack froze the glass around it, the sound of cracking following. The other two blasts hit the walls of the tunnel.
The glass shattered. The combination of being frozen from an ice beam explosion, then superheated by laser blasts, was too much for even the tough acrylic glass, made to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure, but not two supernatural attacks.
The aquarium alarms began to blare, and metal bulkhead doors slammed down on either side of the tunnel. This did nothing for those in the tunnel itself, who were swept along.
As Mudkip was pulled in, he saw a black shape pass him in the water.
------
Author's Note: This is kind of the plan with the new story. Revamping everything. And part of that is focusing much more on the Pokemon as characters in their own right. So Mudkip gets a mission of his own. Granted, he was just supposed to hang out in the water and watch the comings and goings near the aquarium for a bit, but he couldn't help but look for trouble :D
As for Grace Balin, a google search will help ya there.
Chapter 17
Mudkip swam through the water, looking around carefully. Grace. She'd been about to do… something. With that serum. The way the Asian man had described it, it was supposed to give powers. But she'd used all of it on herself!
Why? Why did she do that? She was safe! Mudkip was there to protect her!
He had to find her.
He watched a few dragons swim desperately to the surface, but ignored them. Grace. She had gone missing.
Then he noticed some of the sharks in the water had noticed that some new objects had entered the aquarium. For a moment, he wondered if he needed to worry about them eating someone, but the hammerheads seemed to simply ignore the people, swimming away. Well, they were nicer than the striped ones and the big pale ones at least.
Mudkip kicked his paws and waved his fin, jetting through the water and looking around. Grace should have been easy to spot! This whole aquarium was nothing but fish, sharks, and water. She was blonde.
How long could humans hold their breath again?
He scanned the water, trying to find her.
Then an emerald flash buzzed past him, a blast of steam following as water evaporated in its wake.
"Kip?" he looked up out of the water. A Silicon Dragon was standing at the edge of the tank, snarling as he pointed his gun at the water. Mudkip twisted quickly, another blast of light spinning past him, only to get hit by a second blast.
"Mudkip!" he bounced off the bottom of the aquarium, shaking his head and snarling. That hurt! Like a flamethrower attack combined with a fairy move.
He pressed his paws against the sand and glared upward. Fine. Then he'd need to take them out first.
That was when a black shape swam up to one of the swimming Silicon Dragons and hit him so hard he went flying up and out of the water, and landed outside of the edge.
Mudkip stared at the shape as it swam past, but focused on his actual enemies. He swept his paws across the sand of the bottom of the tank, until he had a ball of mud in his hand then tossed it up through the water. The mud slapped into the face of a Dragon just as he shot at Mudkip again, the blue-finned Pokemon tanking the blast with a pained snarl, though he forced himself to swim away as another laser passed him. The dragon passed out with a face full of mud, before someone else grabbed his gun and started shooting.
"Kip," Mudkip grunted, annoyed. These guys were worse than the Rockets.
He swam up and out of the water, jumping out and tackling one of the dragons in the chest. He dodged out of the way of the Asian man shooting at him before someone kicked him in the stomach. Mudkip rolled for a bit, landing on his back, and looked up in time to catch a boot to the face. He snarled when that was followed by a fist, the humans surrounding him quickly and hitting him with everything they had.
"Mudkip!" he shouted. He took blow after blow, and accepted them. They weren't the worst he'd taken. He rolled over to his back, covered his head with his paws, and bided his time, keeping his eyes open to watch for his moment.
One man ran up to join the group, aiming his laser gun down at Mudkip. "Move! I can kill it, get out of the way!"
Two dragon shifted aside. The man fired the laser point blank at Mudkip. He took the laser blast, hissing at the high heat, pain filling him.
"Kip!" Mudkip shouted, his mouth twisting in pain. The man prepared to fire again. Mudkip stared at him. He would survive. No matter what. Then he'd show them who they were messing with.
A black shape rose from the water behind him. One of the dragons noticed it out of the corner of his eye, and turned. Then his eyes widened in fear. "Oh god!"
There was a quick motion, the light rippling off shiny black and white skin, teeth flashing. The man about to shoot Mudkip was lifted off his feet by his throat and tossed like a ragdoll, smashing through a window.
The Silicon Dragons spun around, facing their new opponent. That was when Mudkip struck. His body, beaten and scratched, began to glow with scarlet energy, floating just over his skin. His grimace of pain snapped upward, teeth flashing in a savage smile. Mudkip's body exploded with red energy. The dragons were sent flying like leaves in a storm as he jumped up, smashing into their bodies. The black shape grabbed two of the dragons out of the air and slammed them into the ground, their bodies flopping against the pavement. That was when Mudkip and the being could see each other in full.
She towered over everyone around her, her body large and thick with muscles. She was built like a cross between Officer Jenny and a Machoke, but with black and white skin. The tatters of a shirt and pants were wrapped around her, stretched and ripped in sections, as though she grown out of them in seconds, the wet clothes barely protecting her modesty across her chest and legs. Her head was shaped like a Sharpedo's but her teeth were more like Gible's, flashing as she glared at Mudkip with entirely black pupils, the fin on her back shining wetly in the light as she looked around at them.
She took a step forward. Then she froze. The large woman looked down at her legs. Her eyes widened. She stepped forward again, staring at herself. Her legs flexed, powerful muscles stretching wet denim.
The anger and rage in her face slowly faded. Awe replaced it, jaw dropping in amazement.
That was when Mudkip made the connection. Those clothes were the same ones Grace had been wearing. Grace, who had been in a wheelchair. Grace, now standing before him, staring with eyes wide at her own legs. She slowly touched her own knees, gasing the instant contact was made. Mudkip watched as joy came over her face, lips trembling.
Then someone shot her in the shoulder with a laser. She stumbled back, staring at the mark on her shoulder. It was a grazing shot, barely even a wound, leaving a nasty scorch mark.
She screamed, her voice echoing in the ears of every person in the area. She ran forward, hundreds of pounds of monster punching the man who'd shot her. He dodged, but her fist landed on his right him[a], sending him bouncing across the pavement.
Mudkip hit another man with a water gun as one of the guys tried to shoot him. Grace grabbed that guy by the arm and threw him off the roof, while someone tried to get to her from behind. A small blue Pokemon surrounded in waves of water crashed into him, shattering ribs and knocking the man out.
The dragons finally had enough apparently.
"Retreat!" Bryce shouted, grabbing one of his guys and pulling him back as Grace brought her fists down onto the head of another man. "Run! Now, go!"
The ones that weren't knocked out ran. Grace went to follow, snarling.
"Mudkip!" he cried to Grace. She looked over at him. For a moment, he wondered if she was lost in her rage. That happened to some Pokemon. They'd evolve and lose themselves in their new strength. Only wild ones, really, but it could happen.
She looked towards the running dragons. Finally she grimaced and turned towards Mudkip.
"...Kip," he said softly.
"...Fine," Grace whispered, coughing a bit as she spoke.
Mudkip led her to the shore, hopping over a fence. She hesitated before jumping it as well. As she landed, she stared at her legs again. Mudkip looked back at her and yipped, telling her to focus.
As they entered the ocean, a small army of Silicon Dragons were left to pick up after them.
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They went for a couple of miles before Grace finally stopped. She swam up to the surface of the water and stayed up there. Mudkip went for a few feet before he had to stop.
In his defense, he was busy being furiously jealous! She evolved! Right in the middle of a fight! Mudkip had fought his hardest and still wasn't evolving! She did it with an injection!
What was in that stuff, rare candies!?
And he'd thought humans couldn't evolve like Pokemon. Were humans in this world different? Maybe they were like Eevee and other stone evolvers. Get hit with the right energy, and they'd change?
Whatever. Still wasn't fair. Mudkip worked really hard!
Consoling himself that he'd get there one day, he twisted in the water and went back to Grace.
She was staring up at the night sky, her eyes wide. She looked so strange. Like his master did sometimes. Sometimes, he'd stare up at the sky. And when he did, he looked so worried. That's how she looked, this strange looking woman. Worried and scared.
"Mudkip?" he asked, swimming up to place a paw on her arm.
She looked down at him. Before Mudkip could say anything, she smiled. "Hey… You were really trying to get me out of there, huh?"
"Kip," he nodded.
"...Thank you," she whispered. Her voice was deeper than before, with a small bit of reverberation like bigger water Pokemon had sometimes. "I…" she stared down at her hand. She closed it into a fist, then opened it. Her hand was shaking. She was crying. "I...Oh god!" she clutched herself, closing her eyes. "W-What did I do!? Look at me!" Grace raised her fist and smashed them into the water, sending a wave out from herself. Mudkip stared at her, shocked. "I'm… I'm a monster," her voice was hollow. Horror filled every word. "I took all of it. I could have thrown it on the ground!" she laughed, sounding hysterical. "I could have just broken the vials! ...But I didn't want to waste it."
Mudkip watched as she pressed her hands against her face. "I just wanted to walk again…"
...Honestly, Mudkip wasn't sure how to take that. For him, evolution was a goal. A chance to become who he was meant to be. To be stronger, bigger. She was acting like it was a bad thing.
But this was probably a strange human thing. It didn't really matter. She was sad, and she needed help.
Mudkip swam up. He wrapped his paws around her neck, hugging her gently. After a moment, a large hand wrapped around her back. She cried as they floated there, holding to him like a lifeline.
After a long moment, she calmed down enough to back away. "T-Thank you," she stuttered. "...God. I have nowhere to go," she said helplessly.
"...Mudkip," he grabbed her hand and pulled.
"Follow you?" she chuckled. "You're pretty helpful for a… whatever you are. A mutated Axolotl?"
He pointed at his chest. "Mudkip. Muuuuuudkiiiiiiip," he said slowly.
"Mudkip… Okay," she stared at him. "I'm Grace."
Mudkip nodded, then gestured for her to follow.
She looked down at her legs, waving powerfully in the water. Then she nodded.
As they swam side by side, she began to smile. Hesitantly, as fragile as glass. But as the former parapeligic followed a Pokemon in the ocean, she smiled.
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Mahmoud Schahed/Kahu Kiaʻi
"ALAKAZAM!?" a startled shout came from the kitchen as I handed Kalini a fold up mattress I'd left aside in case one of the other ones I'd bought broke. Kalini stared out the door of his makeshift room.
"Does that happen a lot?"
"It's never happened," I rushed out of the room, Kalini following. While I went in the direction of Alakazam, thoughts rushed through my head.
Alakazam was never shocked. Surprised or annoyed sometimes, but never so shocked he would yell.
I got to the kitchen. Inside, Tyrunt was sitting on a table, staring at Alakazam. Slugma was sitting in her lava pit, her jaw dropped.
The psychic-type was glaring at the wall, eyes glowing white as he rubbed his temples. He turned to see me enter.
"Your starter has decided to cause chaos," Alakazam told me.
"What did Mudkip do?" I snapped.
"He decided that instead of watching the Aquarium, he would… well, here," Alakazam, instead of explaining things piece by piece, sent me what had happened in a series of fast images. He didn't do it often, since something like that was taxing on human minds. Like mind control on speed dial. I ended up with a headache from basically being forced to imagine/think thoughts that weren't my own, but now I knew the full story.
I clutched my head, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "...Orca?"
"Like the whale?" Kalini asked, confused.
"Yeah. But as a girl," I said, trying to figure out what had just happened. Mudkip had found Orca!?
I didn't know much about the character beyond that she was a Batman villain with a sympathetic backstory. Which, honestly, they all kind of have sympathetic backstories, so she didn't stand out much beyond being a whale woman. I think she and Killer Croc had a thing?
But this was Hawaii!? Not Gotham. What was she doing here?
Honestly, of everything I'd found out, the least surprising was the fact the Silicon Dragons had been trying to exploit her. We knew they'd want to find counters for my Pokemon, and they'd be working as fast as they could to find those.
The only surprising part was Orca, or Grace I guess, being around. So she was now in her full whale-hybrid form…
"God, this is enough worms for… I don't know, a thousand planets of pure spice."
"What does that even mean?" Kalini asked, before I ran past him.
"Okay, Alakazam, have Mudkip take her down the beach, we can't allow her in here until we know she's not a security threat," I went into my room, where a mannequin stood next to my bed, wearing the hockey mask I'd used to hide my identity. I took it and brought it down over my face. My fighting-type and ghost-type came to join us as I came out into the hall. "Gurdurr, you're my backup. If we need any help, then the rest of you come out, but until we can assess her properly, Grace Balin knows Kahu is visiting a beach with just two of his Pokemon."
"Gurdurr," he ran off to get his I-Beam. I placed on my longcoat and rushed for the entrance, grabbing my pistol as well. I thought Orca might be bulletproof, but if I was wrong, no reason not to take advantage.
"Is this really necessary?" Kalini asked, confused, watching me carefully look over my gun, checking the safety was on and that a bullet was in the chamber before I removed the safety and put it away.
"Being paranoid hasn't killed me, so I'm not going to stop right now," Just before I left, a thought occurred to me. "Mimikyu… Do you have enough fabric to make a bathrobe? A damn big one?"
"Kyu?"
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Gurdurr and I stood side-by-side on the beach, waiting. Mudkip sent a message through the mental link Alakazam had set up to say that he was having trouble getting Grace (Had to be careful to think of her as Grace, not Orca since that codename didn't exist yet) to come towards us. After a couple of minutes, they came towards us. A pair of fins came toward us, one blue, the other black. Soon, they stepped out. Mudkip rushed over to me, hopping up and landing on my shoulder, rubbing his head against my neck. I raised a hand and scratched his head right where fin met skull, getting a purr, but still kept my eyes on his companion.
Orc-Grace, came slowly over to us, hesitating with each step, her eyes nervous. She was a sight to behold. Tall and muscular, but still very much a woman. Her skin was the same shiny and soft texture as the Killer Whale's that would later lend her the name she was most known by. She had clothes on, but they were way too small, stretching across her like wet napkins. She was pretty impressive all in all, even after all my time in the Pokemon world.
"Grace?" I asked as she came over.
She paused, staring at me. She licked her lips, fangs flashing. "Y-Yes. Who are you?"
"Kahu Kiaʻi," I'd been practicing the name. "Mudkip's friend."
"You're that superhero…" she whispered, staring at me. "On the news this morning."
"Nice to see my fame precedes me," I said like I was used to that sort of shit. "Here," I held out a hand to Gurdurr, who handed me a big bundle of cloth. "Those clothes were clearly made for your smaller form."
"You know about that?" she asked, shocked. I handed her the bundle, which she unfolded to see a robe of sorts just sewed out of three beach towels. She hesitantly wrapped it around herself. Had to give credit to Mimikyu. She'd done good work with almost no time.
"It's part of my shtick," I said with a sigh. "Come over here, Grace," I gestured to a bunch of rocks further down the beach. "Let's sit and talk."
She must have still been in shock. It was so weird, seeing a bulky eight-foot tall whale-woman meekly following me down the beach. Mudkip was whispering in my ear as we walked, Gurdurr keeping a critical eye on Grace. I sat down on the tallest rock, looking down at her. She sat down on one nervously. Even with me on a taller rock, she was still at eye level. Good.
"Grace… Mudkip told me what he knows."
"He did?" she stared at him, surprised. "I thought he could only say his own name!"
"It is a lot more than that when you know how to listen. But let's focus on what's important," I leaned forward, looking her up and down carefully. "The Silicon Dragons."
She stiffened, eyes flashing with raw emotions I couldn't read.
"They're my enemies. To say the least. They went after you to try and steal your research. What was it?"
"...Can't you tell?" a bit of life entered her voice. She flickered her eyes down at herself and smirked.
"No, I can't," I said. "Becoming an Orca-hybrid might appeal to some people, but I doubt that was the crux of your research."
"Why should I tell you anything?" she snapped. "Why don't I just-"
"Walk away?" I shrugged. "You can. I'm not trying to shake you down. I'm a helpful guy, so I'd love to supply room and board if you've got nowhere else to go. But you can always walk away from here. Just find a way back home… But you're a scientist, right? How old are you?"
"24."
That was a lot younger than I expected. She was younger than me. Well, my original body anyways. "So you've probably been running through the logic in your head, right? What this transformation means for you? What the Silicon Dragons taking you means?"
She snarled a bit, flashing her teeth. "...Fine you bastard. You want the truth? I wanted to cure paralysis."
I'd figured.
"I wanted to create a process to bond animal DNA to human DNA, to change that DNA until it could impart selected properties of choice to whoever we liked," her voice shifted, becoming almost lecturing in tone. "I started with orcas. I found that certain traits of orca whales could have regenerative properties when mixed with human genetics. Could even reverse the effects of paralysis."
She stopped and looked down at her feet. Her toes dug into the sand. She laughed. There was a lot in that noise. The combination of joy and sadness that I think only comes up a few times in a person's life.
"Guess it worked."
We sat there silently for a moment. She took a shuddering breath.
"I had to do a lot of my research alone. I'm a student. If I tried to actually share my crazy ideas, without real results, I'd be laughed out of Gotham University. So I took an internship at the Aquarium. They had samples of Orcas, samples no one would miss. I had some trouble with creating serum with the results I wanted, so I found a like-minded scientist on the internet… I knew it was a bad idea," she hissed those words out. "He was just… he offered me equipment, money. Not a huge amount, but more than I could get from the aquarium. Enough for my research… I was so close."
She stared down at her toes, though they were motionless now.
Damnit. Why are half the Batman villains so sympathetic you wanted to give them a hug? The other half were unrepentant psychopaths, but still. Even giant badass Bane had a sad story.
I had to think in those cynical terms, had to keep as logical as I could.
Mudkip, on the other hand, jumped into Grace's arms. He wrapped his arms around her, looking positively minuscule in her arms.
"I just don't understand why they had to kidnap me," she petted Mudkip sadly. "I was going to send my results. They didn't need to-"
"They were in a rush," I leaned forward, meeting eyes with Grace. "The Silicon Dragons. Have you heard of them?"
"I thought they were a two-bit gang. Like the Falcones."
"No. They're closer to Intergang."
"Who?"
"Right, Gothamite. Well, the facts are this. They have a policy of returning force with force. It's part of this bullshit 'code of honor' they believe in. So when they deal with normal cops, they use the sort of weapons that cops can carry. When they fight militaries, the assault rifles come out. When they fight superpowered animals like my Pokemon…"
I didn't explain further. She looked from Gurdurr to Mudkip, who jumped off her lap to land on the sand, sending up some grains.
"This is… your fault?" she said. I could see anger flitting in her eyes. She began to rise.
"No, it isn't," I stood up, glaring down at her. "The dragons decided to attack a friend of mine. I stopped them. As far as I'm concerned, that should be the end of it, but those assholes keep coming after my family!" I snapped out. "They hired assassins, keep chasing my friend, and now they're trying to steal superpowers in a can to try and kill me!"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I really am. You don't deserve this shit. Mudkip told me you were brave. That you injected yourself to keep those guys from getting the serum… So I'm sorry this happened to you. But I'm not going to take the blame for this. The dragons are. They kidnapped you, they tried to use you to make animal hybrid super-soldiers."
"They wouldn't have done it if-!" she shut her mouth and closed her eyes, clenching her fists in her lap.
"...Mudkip?" he implored quietly, pressing his paws against her knees.
She was shaking a bit. I sat back down on the rock in a huff, shaking my head. "Grace. I'm sorry. I really am."
"Well… good for you."
I winced. Yeah. She'd likely heard those words before when she'd been in a wheelchair.
"...I want to help you," I said at last.
"How?" she laughed tearily. For an absurd moment, I wondered if normal orcas could cry. "You know any experts with a Ph.D in Marine Biology and Biomedicine?"
"I know a rich guy who hates the Silicon Dragons, and one of my Pokemon has a superhuman brain and enough spite in him to fuel a nuclear reactor," I said, sending a certain psychic his cue.
"Ever the flatterer," Alakazam grumbled in my mind.
"What was that!?" Grace looked around, snapping up to her feet.
"Gurdurr," the fighting type grumbled.
"Yes, yes, I know your hatred for theatrics," Alakazam sent. "Ms. Balin, I am Alakazam. A Pokemon working with Kahu Kiaʻi. I am speaking to you telepathically, so you should stop looking for me before you get whiplash," Grace did just that, looking rather embarrassed, but also intensely intrigued. "I assure you, despite the gruffness he spoke to you in, he is telling the truth. We want to help you. Whatever the circumstances that led here, I think we can agree that your situation is unique, and thus requires unique help."
"How are you… actually, what are any of you?" she stared at Gurdurr, who hefted his I-Beam and shrugged. Then at Mudkip, who smiled at her. I caught her smiling back before she caught herself.
"We are Pokemon," Alakazam said. "Kahu Kiaʻi is our trainer. And we want to help. Will you ally with us?"
"...What do you get out of it?" she asked.
I stood up. For some reason, things felt way more serious than I expected. Mudkip hopped onto my shoulder. Gurdurr joined me at my side. The wind from the ocean blew my longcoat behind me, Grace looking up at me as we stood on a lonely beach, a storm on the horizon.
"I get to help someone who needs it. I get a scientist good enough that a criminal organization wanted to fund her research. What is really important… is you get to invest in a bit of revenge. What do you say? You can walk away. But if you join up… Well. Your life is going to change forever."
Grace Balin stared up at me. I held out a hand.
After a moment, she took it.
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Author's Note:
Kahu: Now eat this hair.
Orca: What.
Jokes aside, this was a fun one to write. Next chapter, Kahu leads Grace into the exciting world of Pokemon, Giovanni and Kahu discuss the possible implications of the new superhuman in Hawaii, and Kalini eats more food. Also, dragon perspective if I can fit it in.