The Campagna Adventures

Chapter 44-A Memory

Phil's eyes slowly flutter open, but his vision was blurred.  As he regains consciousness, the Aura Shinobi let out a loud groan as the pain hit.  His chest felt as though a Steelix was trying to crush him.  He felt as though a Macargo was sitting on his head, he was burning up.  Suddenly, Phil felt a cool hand gently touch his forehead.  The hand's gentle touch chased away the pain and heat.

As his vision cleared, Phil saw that the hand belonged to Racheal.  Phil tried to get up, but Rachael gently used her other hand to push him back down.

"After a beating like that, even you need your rest," she told him.

"I'll be fine."

"No, stay still.  I cannot keep the pain away if I move my hand."

"If I have to stay down, so should you.  Why don't you sit down?"

"Because then I cannot reach your forehead very well."

"You just need skin to skin contact, right?" Phil inquired.

"Yes."

"Then sit down and take my hand.  It is much closer to the edge of the cot."

Racheal, reluctantly, sat down, and took Phil's hand in hers.

"So, did they catch any of the Regoes?"

"Just one, Sicarius I believe."

"Have they gotten any information out of him?"

"Not that I know of.  It is my understanding that he has gone mad."

"Blazer, Jes, George, would you guys come on out?"

The three Pokemon emerged from their Pokeballs, which had been sitting on a small table next to the far wall.

'Are you feeling any better?' Blazer asked.

"Only thanks to Racheal.  Would the three of you go try and get some information out of Sicarius?  George, you are pretty strong telepathically, make sure to read every thought and memory you can get access to.  Blazer, Jes, you two try and, jolt his memory."

The three Pokemon nodded, and George teleported them out.  As soon as they were gone, Phil let out a deep breath.

"I think you should go back to sleep," Racheal told Phil.

"How long have you been awake?" Phil asked.

"I have not slept this whole time."

"How long ago was my fight with the Regoes?"

"That was a day and a half ago."

"Then I am not the only one who needs sleep."

"No, I am fine," Racheal retorted.

"I am only going to go to sleep if I know you are."

"Fine, but I am not leaving."

"As long as you get some rest."

Phil slowly drifted back to sleep.  As his breathing leveled out, Racheal leaned back into her chair and fell asleep, but she never let go of his hand.

Blazer and Jes circled the Dark User, who was chained to a chair.  George stood back, calmly analyzing everything that crossed Sicarius's mind.

"Should we really let them do this?" Alexander inquired.

"It is either this or let Phil at him once he has recovered," Denny replied.

"I like this idea a lot better now."

"I thought you would."

Time slowly passed, Blazer was certain that some moss in the corner had grown a decent amount during their interrogation.  Finally, they got something.  George could make out an image, a memory.

Sicarius held his palm up to a scanner, after a brief moment, it flashed green and the slab-like steel door slowly slid open.  Soon, a large laboratory was revealed.  There were several desks and tables with dozens of computers, microscopes, and other scientific equipment neatly organized on each one.

In the back were several small prison cells, barely large enough for an man to lay down.  To the right were two large operation table, with a plethora of restraints added.  A young boy, no more than ten or eleven years old, was being lead to one of the tables.  The other table was already occupied by a blue marked Gallade.

Sicarius walked over to observe.

"Rego!  Have you come to see our results?" one of the scientist inquired.

"No, I am simply bored, and I believe watching this pathetic child squirm until his entire Genome is changed will be most entertaining."

"Of course, sir.  It will be a moment before the experiment is ready to proceed.  Would you like a breakdown of how it works?"

"Why not?"

"Well, we have discovered that Pokemon with alternate coloration somehow work better.  Also, humanoid Pokemon have a higher rate of success with the DNA grafting.  However, we can still only get a small percentile of experiments to succeed.  The oldest survivor was twenty-five years old at the time of operation, and the youngest was seven."

"Go on, how does it work?"

"We take the Pokemon DNA and splice it into the Human Genome.  Since the Human Genome has twenty-six pairs of chromosomes, the closer the Pokemon's Genome to twenty-six pairs the better.  It is extremely painful, but the result is what we have dubbed a Pokeman, a human with genes from Pokemon that enable a much higher resistance to damage, and many of the abilities of that Pokemon species.  The primary side affects are Pokemon characteristics, such as an extra set of ears, tails, etc., and a strong affinity between the two that share genes."

"How strong is this affinity?"

"Death to one will kill the other, and prolonged separation can drive them mad.  Since the Pokemen we create are so powerful, we use this side affect to control them.  Now, the experiment is ready to proceed."

One of the scientists set up a camera, "Experiment number 1,138.  Human Subject is an eleven year old Caucasian human male.  Pokemon Subject is a six year old Gallade with rare color variations."

The scientists begin to jab the Gallade and the boy in several places, evidently collecting DNA samples.  After a brief processing period in a strange looking device, the samples were re-injected into the boy, a blood curdling scream burst from his mouth.  The boy's body convulsed as though he were being electrocuted.

Just as sudden as the boy's scream, both subjects went limp.

"Experiment number 1138 results.  The Humans subject could not handle the stress of the Genome Splice and is now deceased.  The Pokemon subject became deceased immediately thereafter."

Suddenly, the memory ended, Sicarius stared back at George, shutting out any further attempts to read his mind.

'Blazer, Jes, I got something, but he has shut me out.'

'Let's go tell Denny.  Phil does not need that kind of stress right now,' Blazer replied.

The other Pokemon nodded in agreement, and left the room.