Dastardly Desires Chapter 16 (Patreon)

I gesture to a large stone block puzzle. "Here. This is the way up onto the island." 

"I see!" Cynthia gasps. "This stonework... it couldn't be less than a few hundred years old! And this ship!  it's about to fall apart!" 

She turns to me. "Do you have any idea what this says?" 

"No clue." I reply with a small headshake. "I don't know if I would even if it wasn't all jumbled up like that." 

The woman lets out a hum of acknowledgement, bringing out a camera and snapping a photograph of the stones. 

"Lu- Lucar-io!" The large jackal-like pokemon barks suddenly, pulling on Cynthia's sleeve. 

"Hm? What is it Lulu?" Cynthia questions. 

The Lucario abruptly points to the water. 

Ah. 

She saw them. 

"Hm? What about it?" The champion questions. 

"Oh, she probably saw the Magikarp that's swimming around there." I begin. 

The Lucario looks at me in confusion. 

"Regional variant." I explain blandly. "I think." 

An intrigued expression crosses Cynthia's face. "A regional variant?" 

She slowly approaches the water, seemingly forgetting about the large door that we were standing by before. 

"Be careful. They've got teeth like a Sharpedo and appear to be far smarter than normal Magikarps." I call out, causing the woman to pause briefly, glancing back before her eyes turn back to the pool, a slight caution on her face. 

She stands at the water's edge, watching sail-like fins briefly cut through the water before diving deeper. 

Her eyes fill with wonder as she catches sight of one of them. 

"Wh- this is-" 

She looks to me. "Don't you want to post a research paper on them?" 

"Well, I mean, I have one already done... but, like... then I got to thinking. Hey. I have a black Eevee that can turn into a never before seen Eeveelution, and Merlin, arguably the strongest Lotad in existence." I begin quietly. "It'd look... pretty suspicious for me to pull out another new pokemon just like- Snap that." 

"Sooo, I'm waiting for someone else to catch one to take the heat off me." I shrug idly. "I probably won't get a bonus for discovering the species like I did for Merlin, but eh. That's fine. I have enough money to survive." 

"..."' 

"May I?" She questions. 

"If you want." I shrug. "By all means. But. Oh. I live here. Do you think it's possible to hide the catch data? I don't want people literally coming to my front door." 

"Oh, don't worry, I will." The woman states as she reaches into her bag and brings out a shrunken pokeball. 

She seems to wait as one of the fish seem to peer out of the water... Then promptly spikes the ball into his forehead. 

It lets out a small cry as it flashes red and gets sucked up into the ball. 

The red and white sphere seems to float there in the water for a long moment, shaking quietly. 

Click 

The Lucario holds out a hand, the ball glowing slightly and being pulled to shore. 

"Thank you, Lulu... let's take a better look at this, then." The woman mutters as she holds out the damp pokeball. 

With a flash, a medikarp appears, it flops briefly before glaring at the blonde trainer. 

"It- It really is a new variant..." She whispers. 

It seems to drag itself forwards on its fins, tail coiling and digging into the sand as it crawls back towards the lagoon. 

"it is... semi-aquatic?" 

"I wouldn't go that far." I shake my head. "I'd say mostly aquatic. Just with some minor capabilities to move on land." 

She recalls it before it can disappear into the water, causing it to reappear with a flash a moment later. 

She slowly walks forwards, holding a hand, the fish lowly growling at her, its more of a rumble, like you might hear in an alligator or crocodile. "Intriguing! They are quite a bit larger than normal magikarp!" 

It lunges forwards, but the Lucario steps forwards, one of its paws is placed on its forehead, and the fish is shoved down into the dirt. 

"Lu! Lucari-o!" It growls, seemingly trying to establish dominance over the fish. 

It wobbles and shakes slightly under the glare of the larger- and far stronger- pokemon. 

It flops onto its side, remaining there for a long moment even as the Lucario steps back. 

"This is... fascinating." The woman whispers.  

"Yeah, I'm trying to train one myself... I haven't caught it yet. But from what I could tell, it was the best of the bunch... and these are all pretty damned impressive." 

"Let's see here" I mutter as I pull my scanner out of my classic pokemon pocket dimension bag, scanning the magikarp. 

"Hm... yeah. This one's pretty damned strong. You managed to find the second-best one." 

"Second best?" The blonde woman echoes as she steps around me and peers at the device.  

"Ignore the name, I needed something to name them to differentiate them from Magikarp in the code... I went with Medikarp as It sort of looks like a... Medieval Magikarp. 

"You- You believe it to be an ancient magikarp?!" 

"Maybe." I shrug. "Most ancient things tend to be bigger and better with more teeth, soooo it's possible." 

"It- It has three abilities?!" 

"Yep." I nod once. "Marvel Scale, Strong Jaw, Swift Swim. From what I can tell, it's the only one. The rest only have two or one." 

"They all have abilities?! Even having one is quite special, yet you are telling me that they, as a species, on average have two?!" 

"Yep." I nod once. 

"Wait... you said you are training the strongest..." The girl whispers. 

"Oh, Tiamat is great. She's a bit passive, but I finally managed to get the general... savage-ness out of her." 

"May... I see her?" The woman questions. 

"..." 

I let out a long sigh rubbing my forehead. "Fine, Fine. But the way to my house is quite a climb... or it would be." 

I turn and walk away, putting my fingers to my lips, then I whistle. 

SLAM 

A door up upon the mountain swings open, a large coat flying outside quickly. 

My trench coat floats down, hovering in front of me. 

"Wh- huh?" The woman stutters. "What is this?!" 

"Oh, you know my Lotad... he made it... he can apparently make stuff like this." 

I step forwards, the cloak swinging around my shoulders. 

I lift off the ground and begin floating upwards. 

"I'll send him back down in a second. Oh. And your fish friend there is trying to run away again." I gesture to the side. 

Cynthia's eyes are wide in wonder, even her Lucario looks shell-shocked by my little trick. She holds out a hand and recalls her magikarp without even looking. 

I slip inside my home, my coat slipping off my shoulders.  

I peer outside, watching it float down to Cynthia. 

It holds out one of its sleeves waiting to take her hand. 

Cynthia slowly reaches out, causing the coat to swish around her shoulders. 

Her feet leave the ground causing her to make a startled squeak. "W-Woah!" 

She squirms briefly but is successfully lifted up to my door. 

I hold out a hand, gently pulling her inside. 

"Wh-" the woman pauses as she looks to the large orange suit of power armor. "What is that?!" 

"That would be my combat body!" A nearby monitor on the wall chimes as a rotom's face quickly takes over the entire screen. "Greetings, Champion Cynthia, I am Rotom Mechanica R-052. But I have been given the nickname Jarvis. It is a pleasure to meet you." 

A paw grasps the doorframe of my home as Cynthia's Lucario seemed to leap all the way up here. 

It looks around slowly. "Lucar-io!" 

As it steps inside, my coat reaches out, sleeve coiling around the doorhandle, and pulls it closed. 

"Where did you... find him?" Cynthia whispers, eyes wide with wonder. 

"Eh, he's more or less a basic rotom. He just has a creative streak and built that body himself." 

"Indeed!" My electrical generator beams. "I know how to produce a large manner of advanced weapons, armor, medicine, washing machines, and highly addictive performance enhancing drugs!" 

"..." 

"..." 

"Soooo, anyways, please follow me." I beam as I walk past the screen, completely ignoring what he said. 

I walk out of the entrance room and into the living room proper. 

"This is my living room. Over there you have my bedroom, bathroom, and office. Then over here I have a sort of indoor playground for my pokemon." 

"How did you build all this?! Where did you get your coat from?! Why is your front door more than fifty feet off the ground." 

"Merlin. Merlin. And, well, to stop wild pokemon or people who come here accidentally finding my door. I like my privacy. And considering that all of my pokemon are special in some way, I'd rather not have a horde of pokemon hunters on my front lawn." 

"Wait... your lotad made this cloak?! I thought it was some sort of Honedge posessing a coat or something!" 

"nnnnope." I shake my head. "I have no real clue how he did it. He does a bunch of things. At this point, I've sort of just started ignoring whatever whacky shit 'Merlin the Magic Man' pulls off." 

I step into the grassy room. "Here we are." 

"Tia! I'm back!" 

A red head pokes briefly out of the water, causing me to quickly walk over to the edge and take a seat. 

The pokemon slowly crawls out of the water, letting out a quiet gurgling growl as she steps between me and Cynthia... mainly her Lucario. 

"Oh, don't worry, Tia, they're friends." I smile as I pet the fish' head. 

My words seem to calm the ancient pokemon. 

"Well... she's certainly... big..." Cynthia whispers. "Alpha Gene, am I correct? Does she also have three abilities?" 

"Nope. Just two." I shake my head. 

"Two?" Cynthia echoes. 

"Huge Power and Marvel Scale." I answer. 

"H-H-Huge power?!" The woman gasps. "Are- are you saying that you will have a Huge Power Gyarados?! An Alpha Huge Power Gyarados?!" 

"Mhm." I nod as I hug the scaled dragon type. 

Medikarps aren't really slimy like fish, more scaley, like a lizard. Probably attributed to their dragon type. Of course, Tiamat just climbed out of the water, so my shirt is mostly soaked. 

"She is... incredible." The woman whispers, crouching nearby, gently reaching out a hand, seeing as how she doesn't growl or really react, she gently strokes the side of the fish. "And her temperament is absolutely breathtaking!" 

"I am mildly worried about when she evolves into a Gyarados... IF she evolves into a Gyarados. You know how regional variants can sometimes have alternate evolution lines." I admit. "But... she should do fine... if not, I can have Merlin or Loke knock her unconscious." 

"Regardless, for an alpha pokemon such as this to be so calm... you really lucked out." She breathes. 

I figured out how to more or less manipulate natures with my genetics. 

Useful for when I try to clone that apparently savage pokemon I was given. 

"I did." I agree quietly. 

"Though..." I begin mutely. 

My mouth turn downwards slightly. 

"What is it?" Cynthia instantly notice the change.  

"I am... debating on telling you the truth about these pokemon." I admit quietly. 

"The... truth?" She echoes. 

A long sigh leaves my lips. "Damn. I suppose you deserve to know. Plus you might be able to enlighten me a bit more on them. Follow me to my office if you would." 

"I'll be back with some Veluza fillets later, Tia." 

"Grnnnn." The fish replies as it slides back into the water. 

Cynthia slowly follows after me. 

As I step through my bedroom and into the closet. 

"uhhh." 

"Secret door." I explain blandly as I crack open the back of the closet, hidden behind a few coats. I turn back to Cynthia, a few sparkles in my eyes. "I just think they're neat!" 

The corners of her mouth turn upwards as she lets out a quiet huff. "Alright." 

I walk inside my office, going to my desk with numerous papers strewn across it. 

She peers around slowly, a slightly intrigued expression on her face." 

I open the cabinet. 

I take a deep breath, grabbing a large hunk of rock. 

"Hnnnnng-" 

I eventually slide it out of the desk and lay it across the floor, Cynthia eventually moving over to help me. 

"W-What?!" She gasps. "Is this-" 

"I believe so..." I nod quietly. "My main worry is why they are here." 

"They- They didn't have the rock type!" 

"They didn't." I agree. "And I've seen them spawning. They can breed." 

"..." 

"This is... mildly worrisome." She admits. "But intriguing. Where did you even find this?!" 

"On this island." I begin quietly. "From what I can tell this whole place was deep under the ocean in the distant past. 

"I see..." She whispers, hand brushing along the surface of the fossil. "Do you have any theories?" 

"..." 

"Have you ever heard of the legendary pokemon celibi?"  I ask, cupping my chin and tilting my head. 

"Celibi?" She questions 

"It's a pokemon that can supposedly move throughout time." I admit. "It wouldn't be impossible for things to be dragged with it. Or maybe it leaves some sort of 'radiation' as it enters and leaves the time-stream... it could have inadvertently pulled pokemon from the distant past... or it could have simply rewound fossils. I will admit, I'm not very well informed on legendary pokemon." 

"I am unsure if a pokemon that can pass through time even exists..." She admits quietly. "It may be possible... Legendary pokemon seem to vary in strength... it is... a decent idea I suppose." 

"May I buy this?" Cynthia questions. "I wish to take it to a lab and see if it is capable of resurrection." 

"Sure." I shrug. "Go for it." 

"How does two million sound?" The woman suggests. 

"Sounds good to me. I'll even show you the general area I found it so if it's inert you can try and find another. But first, don't you think we should take a look at the actual thing you're here for? The statues atop the highest peak?" 

"Oh! That's right." The woman exclaims. "I had completely forgotten." 

~~Linebreak~~

We come to a stop at the highest point of my island, five large- wait, four. Four large statues rest in front of us. 

It appears the ninetails statue disappeared yet again. 

"Well..." The blonde woman breathes out. "This is quite impressive... may I take a few photos?" 

"Of course." I wave off. "I don't mind." 

"Wonderful!" The woman smiles brightly. 

She pulls out a camera, taking a few quick photographs. 

"These are only four of the five statues... you see, if we step closer, you'll begin to see a lot of little channels in the ground in the general shape of a star." 

"Hm?" She hums as we walk closer and closer, gazing around at the four towering stone statues. 

she crouches down, fingers brushing along the long channels. 

"What are the purpose of these?" 

"To collect rain water." I answer as I gesture to the final large rock. "There are holes at the bottom of that rock which must be filled with water." 

"I see." She quietly mutters, hand coming to her belt. 

"Minerva." She calls out. 

With a flash a truly massive serpent appears, its around thirty feet long, the front part of its body a cream color the latter half covered in black hexagonal lines the insides of which being blue in majority, but a few being pink. 

It has two strange antenna-like appendages atop its head and long flowing... hair? 

The large serpent leans forwards, its head being pet by the Sinnoh champion.  

"Hello Minerva." The woman smiles. "Can you give me a little water in this channel here?" 

"Miloooo?" The serpent drones. 

It opens its mouth, looking down. 

FWOOOOOOSH 

A torrent of water spews from its maw, sloshing down the channel at high speed. 

CHZZZ-THUD 

The nine tails statue folds out from the rock, re-opening the door. 

"Ooh? I wonder how the mechanism functions!" She gasps. "That sort of technology is incredibly advanced for five hundred years ago!" 

She walks forwards. "But wouldn't such a thing automatically open in the rain? Why was it constructed like this? I did a little research when you first came to me with this, and from what I could tell, the pirate that lived here had no water type." 

She looks back, eyes practically sparkling. "Let's go!" 

I follow her deeper into the tunnel, Merlin on my shoulder and Loki Prancing along just beside me. 

I pause as the door rumbles slightly. 

A massive Milotic head sits there, letting out a few annoyed growls as it seem to be trying to follow us. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, Minerva!" Cynthia exclaims. "it doesn't look like you'll fit." 

She walks over, gently taking the serpents head in her hands and petting her. "Don't worry! We're by the sea! I'll let you go for a swim soon!" 

The woman grabs her pokeball and returns the serpent then turns back to me. "So, what's in here? You explored this place last time, right?" 

"I did. There was a box of evolution stones." 

"Oh, so that's how you managed to get enough money for your home." She mutters. "But... is that it?" 

"Admittedly, I got blinded by the chest of loot, soooo." I begin quietly. "I probably missed something." 

We come to the end of the long hallway, causing me to let out a low hum at the tiny pedestal the chest was sat upon. 

We search in mostly silence for around ten minutes... until... 

"Lu-Lucari-oh!" Cynthia's Lucario speaks up. 

"What is it?" Cynthia questions as she walks over. 

"This section of the wall." She mutters after a moment of examination. "it's hollow." 

"Oh?" I hum as I slowly walk over. "Alright, I'll check the other side." 

I take a seat, back facing the wall as I lean up against it. 

"What... are you doing?" Cynthia mutters. 

"Oh. I plan to have Merlin knock my soul out of my body at which point, my ghost self will peek around a bit." 

"Wh- DON'T! That sounds INCREDIBLY dangerous!" The woman exclaims. 

"Psshhhh." I wave off. "Loki lived." 

"Pokemon are more durable than humans." 

"Oh, believe me, I know." I nod slowly. "Buuuuut do you have a better idea?" 

"Yes. First I can-" she begins but I cut him off. 

"Do it, Merlin." 

He headbutts my chest. 

Thud 

It feels like someone has grabbed my spine and promptly pulled me back. 

I'm on the other side of the wall now. 

It does indeed go deeper. 

Now. 

How exactly does this door function? 

Is it a door? Or did something raise this wall at a later date- 

Oh? There's a button... I think? It's pretty fucking dark in here... 

I float back through the wall and line myself back up with my body. 

With a slight blink I am staring up at Cynthia worrying over me. 

"Alright. Soooo yeah, the path continues on past this wall. I couldn't see much on the other side though, it was dark." 

I tap my chin. "This guy had ghost types, right-" 

"No no no. We are not ignoring what you just did! That level of recklessness is UNACCEPTABLE!" 

"Cynthia. I know the capabilities of merlin far better than you as he is one: and entirely new species. And Two; My pokemon. You might have had a point if there was a ghost type or something around, but there wasn't. Loki would have been hunting it down already because of how bored he looks." 

"Eevee!" 

"I did that because it was easy, safe, and... Honestly it has sort of been on my bucket list... being able to float around and fly like that is sort of an experience." 

"..." 

"..." 

"Speaking of floating around. Loki. Can you go through this wall and push that button on the wall? I think that's a button at least." 

"Eevee!" 

Thud  

He runs head first into the wall. 

"..." 

He collapses onto his side. 

A comical ghost seems to float from his mouth. 

"Dramatic little shit." I snort. 

"SPECTREEVEE!" He growls at me as his ghostly form floats through the wall. 

No idea WHY he did it like this, he could have just evolved into a Spectreon. Or merely tapped into his powers before he struck the wall. 

Now he's controlling his ghost type energy to leave his body because... it's funny I guess? 

It's pretty funny, not gonna lie. 

CHRZZZZ 

The stone in front of him rumbles as he floats back through, his body twitching and spasming as he leaps back to his feet, letting out a cry as if to say 'tah-dah!' "Ee-vee!" 

"Yes yes." I roll my eyes as I reach over and run a hand down his back. "Good job." 

He leaps up onto my back as I begin to stand, walking over to my shoulder as I reach my full height. 

"Well. Shall we?" I question, looking over to Cynthia. 

We slowly walk down the path, eventually... 

We come to a larger room. 

Well, I'll be damned. 

Large piles of gold rest around the room. There's a human skeleton sat upon a throne. 

"Huh." I mutter as I slowly walk forwards along with Cynthia.  

A cutlas seems to rise from the hand of the pirate. Two shadowy hands extending from its sides- 

Ghostly jaws clamp around the handle as Loki, now in his Ghost-attributed jolteon form shakes it around wildly it lets out screams of pain as he repeatedly beats it against the floor. 

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG 

"uhh..." 

It eventually claws at Loki's face... with ghost type energy. 

It doesn't hurt him at all, but it does manage to wiggle its way out of his teeth. 

"SCREEE!" It seems to roar. 

A pokeball strikes it abruptly. 

It gets sucked up inside of it. 

"Would you like for me to transfer this pokemon over to you?" Cynthia questions. "I caught it merely because It looked as if your... uh... Eevee was going to kill it." 

Two little red eyes stare up at me in the darkness. "Eevee!" 

"You can keep it. I doubt the honedge would ever listen to me anyways." I shrug as I begin to look around. "After all. It's probably the soul of that pirate guy itself turned into a pokemon... if I had to theorize." 

Is that- 

Oh hey. 

I crouch down looking over a small pendant. 

A... keystone? 

Where's the megastone, then? 

'Merlin?' 

"Found it. Secured it." 

'Thank you, Merlin.' I mentally reply as I look over the keystone. 

My eyes suddenly snap over to Loki who is about to leap into a large box of evolution stones. 

I snatch him out of the air before he lands. 

"You. Little. Brat." I growl. "Back in the sphere you go." 

"Eevee!" 

He disappears. 

A breath leaves my lips. 

"Well, What now?" I mutter. 

I quietly peer and poke around the piles of treasure as Cynthia documents it with small flashes of light. 

"This is intriguing!" I hear her mutter. "There's jewelry in styles from across the whole world!" 

"I'll be taking the evolution stones. That's non-negotiable and- wait... is this box Black Augurate?!" 

"Hm?" The woman hums. 

"It's... its an extremely rare form of volcanic glass that typically only formed in Sinnoh around four hundred years ago. But, as the volcanos in the region started to cool and become dormant, it appeared less and less... If you want to know more, you should ask Courtney. She's been studying stuff like this specifically." 

"Why... is it so special?" The woman questions. 

"Well... its the secret to an ancient Hisuian Scyther evolution called Kleavor." 

"Hisuian?!" The woman gasps, eyes seemingly sparkling. "Do you know about Hisui?" 

"A bit." I admit with a small shrug. "Mainly the pokemon. There were quite a few interesting regional variants that seemed to have died out in the past two hundred years or so." 

"Please! Tell me all you know! The Hisui period is probably my favorite era of history!" 

"Alright, Alright." I sigh as I pick up the large chest of evolution stones. "Like I said, I only know a bit about the pokemon. Nothing about the way people lived or anything like that. Firstly, let's talk about the regional variants of Rowlet, Cyndiquil, and Oshawott."