Dastardly Desires (Chapter 10) (Patreon)

Ah... winter break... 

Honestly, the past two months have passed rather quickly. 

The main issue is that no real progress has been made on my schemes. 

Well, besides one. 

To cut a long explanation short. 

Magic. 

No progress. 

Trying to figure out which pokemon the mega stones I have are linked to... no progress. 

Genetic research. No progress. 

Courtney posting the Zen Mode research paper, also done. We split the little bit of money we got paid for it sixty-forty, with me getting the largest portion. 

It wasn't much, just around twenty thousand Poke. 

The fact we got that much is already a little surprising, but I suppose we did have my scanner's data on our side. 

And speaking of that, selling my idea? Done. 

Devon Corporation bought the idea and when they finally begin selling it, I'll be given a fat little check at the start of every month. 

Royalties, baby! 

I'll be getting four percent of the profit they make. 

That should be more than enough to buy what I need, plus maybe do a few Gacha rolls along the way. 

Then, onto my next thing... buying my own house so I can begin my genetic research. 

A little progress. 

I've noted a few places, but honestly, I'm sort of debating where I should live. 

I've been looking at places on the Delacore islands. 

Everywhere out there is fairly cheap... 

Well, Excluding living on the largest Island, Capacia. 

It's considerably cheaper than getting typical beach front property. Mainly because of a few inconveniences on the islands... like some have a lack of running water, other have issues with power, no supermarkets, that sort of thing. 

Most islands in the Delacore Island chain have a sole town, and that's about it. It just depends on how big those towns are. Some places have anywhere from ten to sixty buildings, others sit around five hundred to five thousand or so. 

Mainly on Capacia for the latter. 

I am looking at these places as they are relatively inexpensive and there's a lack of people to really get into my business. 

Of course, with such small populations on the island, the chances for nosy neighbors do increase by a fair bit. 

I'll need some form of electricity and water generation out this far. 

The latter could reasonably be solved with a pump or something going into a nearby river or stream, but the prior is a little more problematic. 

The only way I would be able to get some form of electricity on these mostly deserted islands would probably be 'poke-power' where I just have a large complex of batteries that are charged by an electric type pokemon. 

I have considered this, and have come to one sole conclusion... 

Rotom. 

They don't need to eat. Don't need to sleep. Can interface with most forms of technology to make my life easier. And, above all else, can charge things pretty much endlessly, only needing a brief respite in between using their electrical attacks to just sort of 'chill'... and I will admit, having my rotom phone- even if it spies on me and gives reports to the school board when I don't want it to- has been an absolute convenience for me. 

I need me a rotom. A loyal one. 

And while I could travel over to Torom Island- It's relatively close by island with an unnaturally high rotom population- I am unsure if a caught rotom would hold the loyalty of a shop-bought one. 

I'm a fucking geneticist, yet here I am just buying all of my shit from my bullshit shop system. Ugh. 

Well, I mean, you can't really breed rotoms. Nor ghost types in general. Most rotoms come from deceased Magnemite and voltorb. 

There's only a select few ghost type pokemon you can typically breed... those being pokemon that become a ghost type after evolving. 

Like... 

Actually, I'm having a hard time thinking of any right now, but they exist, I'm sure of it. 

Anyways, Rotom is a fairly impressive pokemon, thus, it is fucking expensive just to flat out grab one. 

I can afford a basic one right this second, at around a million pokebucks. But, knowing me, I want something special... and considering how annoying it is to modify ghost types, I might just see if I can Gacha up something fancy for around six times the price. A little over the price I paid for Merlin... 

Of course, I had no control of what I was getting then, and I could have just as easily gotten a Magikarp that had eaten Kaido's devil fruit- which... actually sounds a little badass- but regardless. Buying one right now would  require me to have about double my current wealth. 

I gaze out over an abandoned island, a frown on my face. 

Glyphs cling to my body as I walk forwards, Merlin atop my head like a little hat. 

The island we have found ourselves on appears to be almost entirely abandoned... the only things remaining being the pokemon that live here. 

It's pretty nice, actually... 

Of course, that could change if it is revealed an errant savage Latios lives here. 

"So. Merlin. Does this island hold anything special?" I question. "Aside from the pirate ship, that is." 

This island is actually fairly nice. 

Fortifiable. 

Surrounded by cliffs easily one hundred feet tall on all sides. 

The only entrance being- Ironically enough- deeper inside the island... in a cove that held a large rotten pirate ship that concealed a staircase heading upwards. 

Of course, the staircase is behind a puzzle door of some sort, one where you had to slide blocks with markings on them and make them say words or something. 

I left it unsolved and skipped over it with Merlin... merely because I didn't want to waste any time. 

The rotten pirate ship itself was... empty... sadly. 

There were rusted cannons and broken boxes, but anything useful seems to have long since decayed. 

Nothing of real interest to be found. 

"Top of mountain." Merlin intones in my head. "Structure." 

"Hm?" I hum, glancing upwards towards the mountain's peak. 

He is... right, actually. 

From here I can see something angular. 

Well well well. 

Perhaps if it is abandoned, I can... acquire... it. 

How much does this island cost exactly? 

I wouldn't want to get set up here only for some rich bastard to be all 'ooooh thank you for the nice summer home you put on my land! And thanks for pacifying all of those incredibly strong feral pokemon for free! That would have cost me a pretty penny... now get lost.' 

At that point, I'd probably go full 'what happens on the island stays on the island' and bury them in a shallow grave. 

More than likely alive. 

I walk forwards, my shadow darker than usual, my head on a swivel as I look around cautiously. 

Merlin had finished his sling ring back during fall break, and as a result, has really opened up the world of pokemon to me. 

As of this moment, we could easily return to blueberry academy... and the distance of the Delacore Islands to the academy is roughly... 

One and a half times the region of Unova? 

That's quite a bit longer than most Psychic types can teleport... 

Of course, dedicated teleporters can probably reach several times that distance. 

Merlin's main issue is that he needs to see wherever he wants to go at least once... and he can only travel great distances to places he's incredibly familiar with, so, my room. 

He can easily open a portal across the entire region... 

As long as said portal went to my room. 

"Enemy." 

I narrowly duck to the side as a shadowball rushes through the place my torso was before. 

My eyes narrow slightly up at the two floating pokemon in the sky, they are purple in color, appearing to be robed figures with large witch hats. 

Mismagius. 

My shadow snakes out with incredible speed, a moment goes past, then a ghostly snarl echoes out, spectral wisps burn around the dark form of Loki as he shoots off into the sky much to the immediate surprise of the two witch-like ghost types. 

A shadow claw shreds through the torso of the first, and as the other turns to run, a barrage of swift stars shoot towards it, punching large holes into its body. 

Eventually, it just can't maintain its form and it dissipates. 

"Huh." I hum as I watch the ghostly fox slowly float down so he is level with me. 

I stroke his head as he becomes solid. "Good job, Loki." 

"Spectree." He grins as he then goes back into my shadow. 

Making use of his ability to swap between forms is fairly useful. 

Turn into a Spectreon to do ghostly things like hiding in my shadow, go back into an Eevee whenever I need to use him in class. 

He hasn't unlocked any further evolutions yet, however. So he lacks a lot of the true versatility his first ability gives him... 

As for his second ability, I think I have more or less figured it out. 

I'm calling it 'Eeveemonic possession'. What it does is basically let him turn his soul into a Spectreon, gaining the ghost type. At which point his special attack improves to what it would be if he were to fully evolve. 

Just without the speed, durability, and physical increases of the actual transformation. 

The dual typing is interesting, I suppose. That makes him pretty much immune to all ghost attacks. If he keeps it when he evolves into other forms, that'd be even better as it could knock out one weakness for Espeon. 

I slowly walk forwards, a small smile on my face. 

**Linebreak**

I look to the crumpled heap of three Shiftry. 

Huh... 

A bit weird to see them out in the wild, actually. 

Aren't they a stone evolution? 

Mismagius as well... 

Regardless. Who the FUCK cares about that, right now I'm more shocked by one SINGLE aspect... 

The shiftry's appearance. 

Two are black and splotchy, but the latter is a solid black coloration. 

I slowly aproach the prone pokemon, looking over them. 

This... 

Huh... 

Is it- 

Oh my god it is. 

Melanism. 

My eyes flick to my shadow. 

Wait... 

Is Loki Melanistic? Is that why he's black instead of the standard brown? 

I pull out my rotom phone and power it on. 

"Hello sir!" It chirps. "Where are we? We're not at Blueberry anymore!" 

"We are currently on an island. I need you to search the internet for something really fast." 

"Yes?" It chirps, happy to be of assistance.  

"Please look up unusually colored pokemon. Like... their values and if it is widely known why it happens." 

The rotom's eyes glow. 

"I have found several research papers and auction websites." He informs. 

"Search for the words Melanism, Shiny, Albinism, Albino, Leucism, Leucistic, Genes or Genetics, and Melanistic." I frown as I stare down at the three unconscious pokemon. 

"Scanning..." 

"Melanism. Zero Results. Shiny. Two thousand nine hundred and fifty two results. Albinism, Albino, Leucism, Leucistic. Zero results. Genes or Genetics, fifty seven results. Melanistic. Zero results." 

"Huh..." I frown as I cup my chin. 

So, Shiny is known, but not Albinism... that's interesting. Reasonably I could cook up an albino pokemon with a wave of my hands if I get my hands on something to modify their genes. 

Altering coloration is among the easiest modifications I could possibly do. 

"Please read me one of the excerpts from one of the research papers that mention genetics." 

"Professor Rob Mark, March sixth, thirteen fifty-three. Title: 'The special colors of pokemon'. Paragraph seventeen." 

Thirteen fifty three? That makes this a paper that's about ten years old at this point... it's currently thirteen sixty two. 

"Beginning Quote: 'Thus we can conclude that the resulting change in color of these pokemon is not just a consequence of diet or health, and instead something much deeper. Something genetic. So while the fruit from the Pinkan island can change the coloration of pokemon, and it has been shown to do so with the species that have lived there for centuries, we can conclude that some pokemon are just naturally different from birth'. End Quote." The rotom hums. 

... 

Damn I need one of these little guys that's loyal that would make my life sooo much easier. "What brought about this research paper, exactly?" 

"One of Professor Mark's bred Bunnelby's hatched with a unique coloration, being a darker grey with whitish ear tips when a normal Bennelby's ear tips are a brown color." Rotom informs. 

"I see. Thus, he would know after watching it hatch it wasn't anything it ate that changed its color, nor was it health as I assume he observed it for a time." I nod mutely. 

This gives me an idea. 

I think I know just what sort of research paper is going to be my first. 

But. Right now, more important matters are in front of me. 

"What is the average price for a Shiftry in auction?" I question. 

"An average Shiftry has a general price of around fifty thousand Poke as it is a final stage pokemon. One that requires an evolution stone to evolve. This price rises depending on several prices such as strength, however." 

"On average, how much more does a shiny pokemon cost than a normal one?" I question. 

"Easily ten times." The rotom admits. 

"TEN-" I get my voice under control. "Yes. That's to be expected, I suppose." 

"Rotom, can you take some basic photographs of these three?" 

"Yes sir!" The rotom chirps. 

It quickly floats around them, eyes flashing. 

After it is done, I pull out three pokeballs and promptly catch all three of the Shiftry 

A good start to getting my own Rotom. 

Plus a good start to my resarch paper. 

I pick up the three pokeballs and place them on my hip. 

'let's see what else is on this island!' 

**Linebreak**

"Loki! Shadow Sneak into Takedown." 

A small black fox shoots from a shadow on the earth, crashing into the stomach of a ninetails, its paws lift off the ground slightly from the force of the blow as the little fluffy bastard rebounds and lands on the ground, legs bent. 

He leaps again, surrounded by a torrent of normal type energy, hammering his skull into the ninetail's chest as it begins to fall. 

"Use Shadow Sneak to escape then use Shadow Ball. Merlin. Multiply." 

A ghostly head appears from the ground a short distance away as the Ninetails whirls around with a snarl. 

A shadow ball shoots towards it, and as it prepares to counter with a dark pulse, the shadow ball collides with a glyph in the air. 

A dark pulse rockets towards Loki, and originally would have struck the shadow ball, but upon hitting the glyph, the shadow ball splits into four, going around the dark pulse entirely. 

Said attack misses its mark as Loki returns to the soil, a shadowy line once more tracing its way across the arena. 

The ninetails lets out a cry as the four shadow balls hit it. 

Normally I'd feel bad. 

But that motherfucker instantly tried to murder me the second I set foot atop this mountain. 

No remorse. 

There's a small spray of blood as Loki hammers a shadow claw into its stomach. Its fur beginning to grow matted and patchy from Loki's savage beating. 

It sways on its legs. A low growl leaving its lips. "Nine- NINETAILS!" 

"This... Pokemon..." 

"Hm?" 

"It... blood... on... paws..." Merlin frowns. 

"Uhhhh." 

"It killed before." He elaborates. 

Ah, so I don't need to even feel remotely bad. 

It's guarding this place, and Ninetails live for like a thousand years... if I had to guess maybe it's the pokemon of the person who owned that one pirate ship? 

A final shadow sneak knocks the ninetails flat, it heaves on its side as it lays there, exhausted from Loki's repeated blows. 

"Loki. Just... just put it out of its misery." 

Three crescents of shadow shoot up from the ground, a brutal shadow claw to the throat, blood sprays outwards, splattering across the ground. 

I cringe slightly then look away. 

Fuck. 

This doesn't feel good. 

A little blood stained Eevee walks up to me, staring up at me with big red eyes. 

"Vee-Vee?" 

"You need a bath." I frown. 

"Eevee!" He cheers as he quite enjoys soaking in the tub. 

I turn my attention elsewhere. 

Five statues remain atop this peak. 

Grooves are carved into the ground in the shape of a star. Five large rocks sit at each of the star's points. 

On four of them, a large statue rests. One Nidoking, one Shiftry, one Honchcrow, and finally a Mismagius. 

So. 

Where's the final statue?" 

"Water." 

"Huh?" I hum, glancing upwards. 

"Grooves... Rain." 

I crouch down looking over the marks in the earth. 

"Loki, could you dig here for me?" 

"Eevee!" The fox rushes over and begins clawing at the earth at a feverous pace.  

Eventually after around a minute he has revealed a stone channel. 

It appears the lines in the shape of a star just got filled with mud. "Huh." 

I follow along the lines, eventually coming to the rock without a statue. 

A frown appears on my lips as I crouch down, looking at two mostly covered holes. 

"Merlin... can you fill this for me?" 

"Moment." 

I watch him slowly float upwards then gaze out into the distance, a ring of embers appears beside him, a torrent of water flowing from both sides of the portal. 

It appears Merlin just created a portal into the ocean. 

The water slowly flows into the stone, and after a long moment- Chrzzzz 

A statue flips up out of the rocks, a ninetails... 

My eyes flick back to the dead pokemon. 

Ah. 

Wasn't this where the ninetails originally attacked me from? 

 I shake my head as a section of the wall slides down, revealing a staircase that goes down into the mountain. 

"Huh." I mutter as I walk downwards. 

The pathway twists and turns as I walk, then, after around two or three minutes of walking, I come to a small room with... a literal treasure chest sat in the middle of it. 

"Hey... uh... Merlin, is that trapped?" I question. 

"Don't know." He replies. 

"Well, fuck it. I've got a shield and if things get bad you can just open a portal outside, right?" 

"Eevee!" Loki chirps from just behind me. 

I step forwards and open the chest only to flinch back. 

"Huh..." This chest is packed full of evolution stones... 

The corners of my mouth slowly twist upwards- 

I snag Loki out of the air before he can leap into the box. Grabbing him out of the air before he can do something has almost become second nature to me at this point. Strange. It's like I've gained a 'Loki Sense'... is this what it's like to be a parent? "Loki. No. Bad." 

"Eeeeveeeee." He cries, sounding genuinely hurt. 

"Look, I haven't taken a look at how pure these stones are. I want to give you the best of the best. But if you get a low-purity stone your evolution will be weaker and there will be no re-dos." 

"Vee..." The little brat sighs, seemingly relenting. 

I drop him back to the floor, grimacing at my now bloodstained hands. 

"Ugh. I-" 

Merlin creates a miniature portal above my hands, a stream of water coming from it. 

"Oh, thank you Merlin." I smile as I quietly wash my hands and close the chest. 

I peer around, briefly snagging a few stray evolution stones which had fallen out of the chest, putting them back inside, then putting the entire thing under my arm. 

"Well, let's go back." I hum, glancing towards Merlin. "Can you remember the place outside? We might want to come back eventually." 

"Ok." 

A portal steadily forms in front of me as I reach down and pick up Loki by the scruff. 

"Eevee!" 

"I don't want to explain why I have bloody footprints in my rug." I explain blandly as I step through the portal. 

I wordlessly sit the chest of evolution stones on the countertop as I walk towards the bathroom and drop Loki in the tub and turn the water on. 

Loki reaches up and snags the drain stopper with his teeth. 

"Wait, before you put that in, get under the faucet for a few seconds. 

"Eevee!" 

He walks over, leaving little foot prints on the bottom of the porcelain then a torrent of red seems to flow from his coat. 

He... was a lot bloodier than I had originally thought... 

I couldn't really tell with the black fur. 

Oh boy, I'm probably going to have some red under my nails for a few days at least. 

Oh well. After this, I can see about finding out the purity of all those stones. Mrs. Fennel showed us how. 

**Linebreak**

I quietly. Take a bite of my dinner as I look through a small device. 

It's angular and slightly gun-shaped. 

It looks a bit like my scanner, but I didn't make it. I was actually given it by Mrs Fennel when I mentioned that I had some evolution stones I wanted to check. 

At the very front are two little nubs that are facing inwards. The way it works is that I insert a stone between those two little adjustable nubs, then, 

"Rotom. Is there any correlation between the size of an evolution stone and the resulting power of the evolution?" I question as my eyes flick across my desk where numerous stones of all sorts rest. 

He is silent for a moment. "Yes. A study funded by the Pokemon Institute of Pokemon development, in partnership with the Unovan Prospector Association-" 

I'd have gone with Unovan Miner Association. 

"-And they determined that the larger an evolution stone is, the more power it contains. A large enough impure stone could eventually match a smaller pure one in overall energy density." 

"So, purity is just how much type energy is compacted in the stone for its size?" I mutter, tilting my head slightly. "Well, I guess that's literally what purity is, I guess. So, it makes sense." 

I quickly mark down another number on the little page I'm working on. 

On it, are a list of every single evolution stone that is known to man. Each sectioned off in their own little part, each with a line of percentages beneath them. 

I pluck the final stone from the chest, adjusting the prongs of the scanner and pulling the trigger as the glowing light blue stone locks into place. 

A low 'tsk' leaves my lips as I mark the results down on the paper. 

Dawn Stone. A little smaller than the others I have.  

-56% 

The little minus is to show off size. 

I lift the paper, looking over it slowly. 

fifty nine evolution stones... or, sixty one rocks in total. 

Fire stones is a bust. Of the four, Two were practically duds. With energy so low that they aren't suitable for pokemon evolution. The second strongest of the bunch was one with a purity of thirty. 

Luckily the last was one with a purity of seventy four percent. Making it actually worth something. 

Next, water type, four as well. With the lowest being a small with a purity of around seventy two- about half the size of the others so it should realistically only be compared to around half the type energy of the others. 

The best one was a fairly big one with a percentage of seventy six, though. 

Three thunder stones, one that might literally just be a yellow rock with how much energy it had, but it did have a fairly large one. 

Sucks that I've only got three. Thunderstones are easily the most valuable of the elemental stones. 

Ten leaf stones, with three utterly pathetic ones- about on par with that one yellow rock. 

Eleven moon stones, with all of them being around fifty percent or so. None dropping below forty. 

Four sun, all above fifty percent. 

Eight shiny stones... with two... 

Yeah no, those are literally just shiny stones... how something with an energy rating 'one percent' could quantify as an 'evolution stone' I don't know... whoever bought them in the past and had them shipped across the ocean so a pirate could steal them clearly got scammed. 

Next, five low-tier dusk stones with two really good ones. 

After that, you've got Dawn stones, that one below average one makes five. 

Three of the others are above average so it sort of evens out. 

And, finally, four ice stones. Three below average, one at about eighty percent or so. 

I begin slowly placing the stones back in the box, a sigh leaving my lips as I shake my head. 

Out of all of these stones, the only one I would consider giving Loki would be the ninty two percent purity thunder stone... and that's probably the most valuable one from the group. 

The rest just aren't good enough... 

Fuck it.  

I look through the three thunder stones and scan them once more, sitting aside the highest quality one. 

I take another bite of my pasta. 

I glance down at my feet, seeing Loki sat there on his hind legs, begging for even a morsel. 

"Loki... you don't like it." I frown, letting out an exasperated sigh and pointing across the room where a paper plate sits on the floor. "I already gave you some and you didn't eat it. Being on my plate doesn't just magically make it better!" 

"Eevee!" 

What am I eating right now? 

Salted noodles. 

... 

Yep. That's it. 

"Here. Brat." I scoff as I lift the thunderstone and drop it towards him. 

He snags it out of the air with his teeth, then begins glowing brightly. 

After around thirty seconds, a solid black jolteon is stood there. 

I close the chest now that the assorted evolution stones are now safely back inside it, then mark off the ninety two percent thunderstone on the paper. 

Honestly, some pirate's treasure wasn't a bad haul for the first two days of winter break. I wonder how much it'll make me?