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Thump… thump…
Bert's heart hammered faster than normal, hot blood coursing through his veins. His body grew warm, breath shallow, sweat seeping from his pores.
He steadied the rifle in his hands, the cold edge of the trigger grounding his nerves just barely.
The underground security squad crept through the tunnel. Their footsteps, once firm, now grew wary, every shadow weighed with menace.
Ahead, the light spilling from the laboratory glared brighter… tinged with an unmistakable red.
The sterile tang of disinfectant had already given way to a copper stench.
Bert's throat bobbed as he swallowed. The smell reminded him of biting a cut finger raw iron, metallic and thick. The scent of blood.
The lab's light seemed almost hopeful at a distance, like a beacon beyond the abyss. But as they drew near, that hope twisted revealing a blood-soaked hell.
---
Inside, the horror came into focus.
Thick pools of crimson clung to the sterile tile, spreading like paint over a canvas. Human corpses lay scattered like discarded toys limbs torn, torsos split. Blood droplets spattered the white walls, grotesque strokes of a nightmarish artist.
"Urgh—!"
One guard gagged. Another bent double, retching. Even seasoned veterans men who once lived on knife's edge blanched at the carnage. For the rookies, it was unbearable.
Bert's own gut churned, his round belly rising and falling. He sucked in air, trying to steady himself but each breath only drew in more of the iron stink.
He forced eye contact with one of his lieutenants. They exchanged a grim nod.
"…You, With me, We search for clues. The rest, maintain perimeter."
At the doorway, Arbok coiled like a sentinel, tongue flickering, scanning for unseen threats. Its slit eyes glimmered coldly as it guarded the rear.
Houndoom stalked at Bert's side, its bone-like ridges casting shadows in the lab's sickly light as it joined the search.
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Bert bent down, jaw tight, lifting a severed human arm. He studied the fractures through a haze of nausea, recalling the fragments of training drilled into him years ago.
Crushed bone blunt force?
No… torn edges.
This was ripped apart, raw power shredding flesh from bone.
His nausea dulled under analysis, thought displacing fear.
"The culprit… it has to be a Pokémon. A strong one."
Yet doubt gnawed at him. These experiments used only clones lab-grown Pokémon stripped of will, neutered of aggression, conditioned never to fight back. Collars ensured immediate suppression if any resisted.
Three years he'd served this base. Not once had an incident slipped through.
But now—
"Grrr…"
A low snarl snapped his thoughts.
Bert turned. Houndoom bared its teeth, hackles rising, growling at a sealed inner door.
Gun raised, Bert signaled. A few men crept forward, weapons ready.
The dim hallway beyond held another horror—
A headless corpse slumped against the wall, blood dried in streaks behind it.
Nearby, rubble littered the cracked floor, at the center of which lay a mangled Pokémon. Even broken, its form was recognizable a Sandslash.
Bert's stomach sank. Pokémon were scarce in this base, each unique. If Sandslash was here, then the human corpse beside it could only belong to its handler the base's chief scientist.
The worst had happened.
The death of the professor wasn't just disaster it was unforgivable failure. Bert's hands tightened on his weapon.
He knew what this meant: blame would fall on the guards. Even if they destroyed the rogue Pokémon, his men would be cast into suicide postings.
For a man in his middle years, who long ago traded ambition for peace, the thought of such an end turned his blood to ice.
"Steady…" he muttered to himself, exhaling slowly. "Find the source. Find the Pokémon."
But as he tried to calm himself, A pair of crimson eyes, hidden in the shadows of the corridor, watched silently from the dark.
And they were watching him.
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