Pokémon and all related elements are © Nintendo/Creatures/Game Freak and The Pokémon Company.

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective holders. Duh.

Written by Evan H. Story by Evan and Jesse H. © 2004 All Rights Reserved.

---

Author's note: Nothing new, just keep reading. Also, I've heard that Ho-oh is supposed to be the phoenix or something..

-Chapter 2-

Jason collapsed underneath a large shade tree. Spencer walked next to him and gently sat down. "That bottle of Aquafina is looking mighty fine right about now," Jason said.

Spencer nodded. "No kidding. Those drink people make a killing down here in the summer."

"I guess that's what you get when you're in the middle of an ocean. We must be near Hawaii or someplace."

"Where?"

"Never mind. It's a group of islands in the Pacific that gets nice and hot in the summer."

"Oh." Spencer was lost in thought for a few moments while he and Jason rested. Finally he mused out loud, "Interesting that the pikachu mentioned Mew..."

"I was wondering about that," Jason said. "Who is he, anyway?"

"She," Spencer corrected. "Mew's a girl. Female, at least. She's the chief immortal in Kanto. Before you ask, there are three immortal pokémon in each region. I don't know the other ones; like I said, I've never been outside Kanto, but here it's the three legendary birds and Mew. The birds are the thunder bird Zapdos, the fire bird Moltres, and the ice bird Articuno. Legend has it that all of them are immortal and that they have more power than any of the pokémon in Kanto, Mew being the strongest."

"What element does Mew cover?" Jason asked.

"The mind," Spencer said with awe. "In the official classification they called her a 'light neural' type, which basically means she can communicate telepathically, use telekinesis, and she has an incredible amount of energy she can focus."

"Wait, can she teleport?" Jason asked quickly.

Spencer thought for a brief moment. "Yeah, I think so."

Jason nodded, making the connection. "So that's how I got here," he said to himself.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"That's how I got here. I was sitting at an airp-- somewhere, and next thing I know I'm lying on the beach where you found me."

"Curious," Spencer mused. They rested in the shade a little while longer.

Jason looked around at his surroundings. There wasn't much different on the surface here. The trees looked the same, the ground felt the same, but there was something beyond all that. Maybe it was just his imagination, but to Jason it seemed like there was something intangibly different about this place. He shrugged it off, blaming it on his entire state of mind.

"Spencer," he said, "you said that Sarah sold eevees for $100 a head, right?"

Spencer nodded slightly. "Yeah. We're a pretty rare species that doesn't really exist in the wild anymore, so the only place you can get one of us is from a breeder like Sarah."

Jason smirked. "And it doesn't bother you that you're being sold?"

"No," Spencer said, as if the matter wasn't even worth discussing. "Humans are around to keep us pokémon in line. We've known since the dawn of time that humans are superior to pokémon, humans are supposed to care for the pokémon, and the pokémon are supposed to submit to that. It's just the way things are."

"I can live with that," Jason muttered.

Spencer laughed. "Of course you can, you're a human! But back to the original question, it only seems fair that Sarah's spent so much time on us, she should get something back for that. Plus, this way we know that only somewhat serious trainers are going to get us. Except for that rare occasion one of those rich blondes comes along with daddy's checkbook and..." Spencer shuddered.

Jason nodded. "The last thing you want is to be picked up by the Teen Girl Squad, right?"

"The who?"

"Not The Who, the-- never mind." Jason unzipped his laptop bag and pulled out a smooth, white laptop with a glowing Apple logo on the top. "Better do what Daniel said."

"Is that a computer?" Spencer said, cocking his head and twitching his tail happily. "I've seen Daniel with one of those, but it didn't look like this."

Jason grinned evilly. "Well," he said with a chuckle, "I'll try not to give you my whole 'Macintosh superiority' speech, but to make it short, mine's better."

Spencer just raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said slowly. Jason just chuckled and made several motions on the trackpad.

"There. Web sharing is off, FTP is off, and that's it," he said. "Now, let's see what kind of networking stuff we can do here..." He started an internet journal program and tried to log into his journal, but the program spit back out a message saying that the server could not be found. Jason groaned, put his laptop to sleep and stuffed it back into its bag. "So much for that," he said.

Spencer just shook his head and looked very lost. "How about we get going?" he said weakly.

Jason looked around and got up. The two of them started walking toward the nearest city, Vermilion. 

---

Vermilion was a port town. Jason and Spencer passed the docks on their way into town, and they could see several large men as well as a number of different very large pokémon loading a ship with various crates. Each of the crates had a simple logo on it that reminded Jason of the center of a basketball court. Spencer looked at the logos and shuddered.

"Poké-ball shipments," he groaned.

"What?"

"Poké-balls. They're things that trainers use to catch pokémon. Some trainers actually use them to carry their pokémon around."

Jason nodded. "Those red-and-white balls Sarah had around her waist?"

"Exactly. Some pokémon like them since it means they don't have to walk everywhere, but I think it's a little cramped for my tastes."

Jason glanced at the crates again. "So that logo...?"

"It's supposed to be a poké-ball. They're made by Silph Co. in Saffron, the city just north of here. And there's the Community Center." Spencer motioned to a two-story building with the same poké-ball logo on the doorway.

"Silph too?" Jason asked.

"Right. This is what they do to make themselves seem like a 'good' company. Every major town on the island has a Community Center." Jason and Spencer walked into the building into a small waiting area as Spencer kept talking. "You can get first aid for you and your pokémon here, rent a room, get a bite to eat... It's mostly for kids going around the island training and getting their badges."

Jason smirked. "I'm gonna feel really out of place here, then."

They walked up to the desk. The attendant glanced at them and said, "Oh, you must be Daniel's cousin."

Jason was startled. "Um.. yeah, I am... How did you...?"

The attendant smiled. "No one around here dresses like that, dear. Here's your room key. Up the stairs, to the left." She gave Jason a small credit-card like key and motioned toward the stairs at the far end of the room.

Jason turned and walked away from the counter. "That was easy," he said with a bewildered tone. Spencer just chuckled and followed.

The room was small with one single-sized bed and a small bathroom with a shower. Jason was so happy to finally be able to put down his bags that he didn't complain. He dropped his duffel bag to the floor, kicked off his shoes, sat down on the bed, and pulled his computer back out.

Spencer hopped onto the foot of the bed and stared at the back of the laptop. "Whatcha doin?"

Jason sighed. "Trying to write down how I'm feeling right now. I might be able to turn it into a poem."

"You write poetry?"

"Sorta." He pressed his lips and looked to the side. "I'm just trying to figure it out, that's all."

"Figure what out?"

Jason rolled his eyes in frustration. "Everything. You– Have you ever gotten that feeling that something's going to happen but you don't know what, something's different but you don't know how? That's what I feel about this place. It's the same, it looks the same as home, the bed's as soft as any hotel I've been in, it doesn't sound different, it just..."

"Feels different?"

Jason snapped back to reality and looked at Spencer. "Yeah," he said softly. "It feels different, but I don't really know how. Concrete words, my teacher always told me. But how can you use concrete words to describe something that isn't?"

The two stayed silent for a few minutes as Jason tried to type something. Finally Spencer worked up the nerve to ask, "Do you have any other poems?"

Jason perked up at the question. "Do I? Can you read?"

"I can't turn pages very well." Spencer held up a paw to illustrate his point.

Jason laughed out loud. "Point taken. I don't think any of these are more than a page long, anyway." He reached into his computer bag and pulled out a small stack of papers bound together with a paper clip.

Spencer shuffled through the stack. There were short poems, long poems, and some in between. They wern't the best things he had seen, but some were kind of interesting. He finally stumbled across one that seemed interesting:

Barmaid

The buzz of conversation fills the room.
The stale air suffocates the barmaid.
The small of strong liquor permeates the air
As the night drags on.

She leans on the smooth counter for support
And prays for relief from the drunk masses,
But another tall man in another tall hat waits
As the night drags on.

Maybe this time he'll be different,
Someone who can see through her mask
To the broken girl inside:
    Weighted by the smell of a thousand drinks
    Worn by the smell of a thousand sleepless nights
But his eyes show the same drunken stupidity.

Slowly, she lifts her head,
Pushes the hair away from her face
And does her best to smile.
"How may I help you today, sir?"

"This is pretty good," Spencer said.

Jason looked up. "Yeah, that's what people have said." He sighed again and shut his laptop. "You know," he said, "I was actually supposed to be going to a writer's conference."

Spencer smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's what the letters said," Jason said with a depressing tone. "But there was no conference, was there Daniel?"

Spencer turned around to see Daniel standing at the door to the room.

"No," Daniel said without a hint of emotion. "I suppose it's a good thing you're somewhat gullible. But that's not important. What's important is that you're here, and therefore you've got to be brought up to speed. We can't have you bouncing around this island without knowing the rules; people'll get wise to you."

He glanced in the hallway, then came into the room and shut the door. "Rule number one: you have lived on this island all your life. You live in Jhoto and you're visiting me on vacation. No one, human or pokémon, is to know where you're from except me, Sarah, and two other humans I'll introduce you to. And Spencer, but that's mostly because of an accident. No one else."

Jason and Spencer shot each other a glance that seemed to say "Except the pokémon on the fishing bridge."

"Second thing," Daniel continued. He pulled out a small handheld computer from one of his pockets and handed it to Jason. "This is called a pokédex. It's basically a listing of every known pokémon in existance. There's a list on there called 'popular species;' I expect you to know them by tomorrow. Once you get settled in here, you'll have to get a trainers' license."

"Define 'settled in,'" Jason said with a hint of irritation.

Daniel didn't smile. "You're not leaving."

"Try me," Jason muttered.

“We have to keep this island a secret,” Daniel explained, still showing no emotion. “If word got out to the outside world of this island and its residents, not only would we be overrun with tourists, the way of life here would be gone.”

“And that needs to be protected at all costs?” Jason asked.

Daniel scowled. “Just try to stay out of trouble, okay?” he muttered. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He tossed a small plastic card on the bed. “And this is your money. They don’t take US dollars here, and—“ 
“And you don’t want me showing them any,” Jason finished.

Daniel just left.

Spencer watched Daniel go quietly. “He always seems like such a sad person,” he commented.

---

One thing Jason was glad for: there were five hundred Clicks on the card, the equivalent of fifty dollars. He and Spencer decided since there was nothing else to do, they might as well head down and get that drink. Spencer went straight for the Pepsi, while Jason stuck to his usual guns and went with the Hawaiian Punch.

Jason had just begun to relax when a familiar young voice startled him.

“Sorry about what happened earlier,” the voice said.

Jason started and looked to find the same young trainer that had so arrogantly challenged him earlier on the dock. “You scared me,” he said.

“Sorry,” the kid apologized. “I tend to be a little overenthusiastic.”

Jason stared for a second. When he finally realized what the kid was saying he laughed. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m just a little...”

“New here?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah.” He racked his brain to remember the story that Daniel had fed him. “I’m on vacation from Jhoto.”

The kid’s face darkened. “Oh,” he said. “I thought you were that—ouch!” The kid yelled in response to a light shock from his pikachu.

“Not here!” the pikachu whispered.

Jason and Spencer looked at each other, then back at the trainer and his monster. “What do you know about Jason?” Spencer asked.

The pikachu looked back and forth between Spencer and Jason, then nudged the boy and walked off, motioning for Spencer to follow.

The kid motioned at the empty seat. “Can I sit?”

Jason nodded. “We don’t know each other’s names, do we?”

The kid looked up suddenly and started blushing. “My name’s Kazuyoshi, but people usually just call me Yoshi.” He shrugged. “I don’t really care.”

Jason nodded. “I’m Jason. People usually just call me Jason. Probably ‘cause it’s my name.” He grinned, and they both laughed.

Jason leaned forward. “So let’s get down to business: what do you already know about me?”

Yoshi glanced around the room quickly. The only other beings in sight were a flirtatious human couple in a booth playing thumb wars and giggling, much to the annoyance of the pidgey and clefairy sitting across from them. They weren't going to pay any attention. Yoshi leaned in close, and Jason leaned in as well.

"Arthur--my pikachu--said that you're going to see the inner world tonight," Yoshi whispered, a worried look in his eyes.

Jason looked blank. "What's the inner world?"

"I-- I don't really know. All I've been able to piece together is that..." Yoshi's face darkened. "When that kid Daniel--when they took him to see the inner world, that's when he started acting so moody and dark. He was a nice kid, but now, he's always brooding over something..."

Jason could feel the growing dread in his back, slowly crawling up his spine. "And why am I going to see it?"

Yoshi shook his head. "I don't know. They say it's like a moment of truth or something."

"Who?"

"The pokemon."

"Have you seen it?"

"No. I asked Arthur, and he said I didn't need to since I've lived here my whole life. So I guess since you haven't, you have to see it. But hey, it's not all bad," Yoshi said, the brightness returning to his face.

"Meaning?"

"Well, I know this other guy--really good with tech stuff and whatnot--who's seen it too. And he's not sad at all. He's... well, some people say he's a little crazy, and yeah, he can be a little spastic at times, but he's a cool guy to be around. You should meet him." A light came on in Yoshi's head. "In fact, why don't we go see him now?"

Jason gulped. "Now?"

Yoshi smiled. "Sure. Why not? And hey, do you still have that computer?"

Jason's eyes darted, looking for Spencer. "Um, why do you ask?"

---

Jason followed Yoshi into the small shop. It was a two-story structure about a block away from the pokemon center. It had a business sign on the first floor, and the posters taped up to the second floor windows suggested that someone lived up there.

"Hey, Paul, are you in?" Yoshi called.

Jason could hear a scuffling sound in the back along with faint hints of a conversation. He looked at Yoshi who grinned and motioned for them to move toward the back.

There were two beings in the room. One of them, a human with blue eyes, spiked blond hair, a t-shirt and jeans, was busy putting a tiny screw in a small box about the size of a deck of cards. The other, Jason assumed it was a pokemon, was brightly colored, boxy, and looked like it came straight out of an old 3-D video game.

"So there's nothing left but to put the case back on, right, Tron?" the human said.

"Correct," the pokemon replied in a flat, monotone voice that sounded like it came out of a computer.

"Good. Can you hand me the eighth-inch screwdriver?"

"Yes."

There was silence for a moment before the human sighed. "Tron, hand me the eighth-inch screwdriver, please."

The pokemon shimmered while one of the screwdrivers on a different table slowly rose and moved through the air, seemingly on its own, to the human. "Thank you," he said, and returned to his work.

"What just happened here?" Jason whispered to Yoshi.

"Porygons have some basic telekinetic abilities," Yoshi whispered back, motioning to the pokemon. "But they have very little fuzzy logic. You have to give them a direct command or they won't do anything. They're a lot like computers."

The human looked up. "Yoshi!" he said. "You brought a friend."

Yoshi flashed a peace sign to the human. "Paul, this is Jason. Jason, Paul."

Paul grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'll be with you in a second." He resumed his work.

Yoshi walked over and leaned close, but tried to stay out of Paul's way. "What's this?"

Paul made a few quick movements and pronounced his work done. "You won't recognize this at all," he said, "but see if your friend does."

Yoshi handed Jason the small box. It was a little thinner than a deck of cards, and on one side had a small screen and a doughnut-shaped circle on it.

"It's an iPod," Jason said with a shrug.

"A what?" Yoshi said.

"An iPod," Paul explained. "Off this island, they're arguably the best digital music player you can buy. Note I said arguably, because there are some who will swear by their MuVo, or whatever."

Jason weighed the thing in his hand. He'd never actually held a real iPod, he'd just drooled over their pictures a few times. "What did you do to it?"

Paul grinned and started to laugh. "Oh, what did I do to it. I upped the battery life, upped the storage. That thing you hold in your hand holds eighty freaking gigs, boy! That, and it plays Ogg Vorbis files and runs Linux."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "And that means?"

"It means this thing is sweet... if it works." He added the last line with a smirk. He took the modified iPod back from Jason and pressed the middle button. The screen lit up blue and displayed the image of a penguin.

"Yes!" Paul shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in a "touchdown" sign. He pulled a cable off the table, hooked the iPod up to a computer, and said, "Tron, upload Pokédex 0.9 to the iPod."

Paul then turned his attention fully to Jason. "So," he said, "you must be the outsider Daniel was so miffed about. Did he give you a Pokédex?"

Jason nodded and pulled the gadget out of one of the pockets of his computer case. "Right here."

Paul looked the gadget over a few times. "This is an old school model... Tell ya what, you let me have this, and I'll let you beta-test that iPod over there."

Jason made a face. "I don't know... I don't know if he's just letting me borrow it or--"

"Aw, come on. Let's teach that stick-in-the-mud to be flexible. Wha'da you say, Yoshi?"

Yoshi grinned. "Let him have it," he said to Jason.

Jason reluctantly nodded.

"Yes!" Paul shouted again.

"So..." Jason began, "what exactly do you do here?"

Paul grinned. "I'm the chief of hybrid technology for the Underground. I'm basically the guy that takes all the cool stuff Silph comes out with and hacks it into stuff from the outside world. Like the soon-to-be-finished PokéPod over there."

"And what's the Underground?"

Paul started to answer, but Yoshi beat him to it. "It's like the unifying organization on the island. The humans have the government, the trainers have the League, the different pokémon have their different structures, and the Underground maintains the relationship between everyone. Makes sure no pokémon try to rebel, no humans get too cocky, you get the idea. Of course, they only do it on a really large scale... I mean, they can't go after every single bad trainer out there or start judging any pokémon that starts having rebellious thoughts; they only step in when things get really serious."

Jason nodded slowly. "I think I get it," he said, lifting his laptop bag and supporting his arm with his shoulder.

Paul gasped. "What kind of a computer is that?" he said quickly.

Jason started and quickly held the bag behind him. "Mine."

Paul kneeled down in front of Jason. "Is it a Mac?" he asked softly.

Jason nodded, his face showing his growing worry.

"Please?"

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Double your storage, up your processor, add some junk, and give you 36 hours of battery life."

Jason blinked. "36..."

Paul nodded. "I've gotten 48 once, but I don't want to make incredible promises."