Mudkip swam through the water, looking around carefully. Grace. She'd been about to do… something. With that serum. The way the Asian man had described it, it was supposed to give powers. But she'd used all of it on herself!
Why? Why did she do that? She was safe! Mudkip was there to protect her!
He had to find her.
He watched a few dragons swim desperately to the surface, but ignored them. Grace. She had gone missing.
Then he noticed some of the sharks in the water had noticed that some new objects had entered the aquarium. For a moment, he wondered if he needed to worry about them eating someone, but the hammerheads seemed to simply ignore the people, swimming away. Well, they were nicer than the striped ones and the big pale ones at least.
Mudkip kicked his paws and waved his fin, jetting through the water and looking around. Grace should have been easy to spot! This whole aquarium was nothing but fish, sharks, and water. She was blonde.
How long could humans hold their breath again?
He scanned the water, trying to find her.
Then an emerald flash buzzed past him, a blast of steam following as water evaporated in its wake.
"Kip?" he looked up out of the water. A Silicon Dragon was standing at the edge of the tank, snarling as he pointed his gun at the water. Mudkip twisted quickly, another blast of light spinning past him, only to get hit by a second blast.
"Mudkip!" he bounced off the bottom of the aquarium, shaking his head and snarling. That hurt! Like a flamethrower attack combined with a fairy move.
He pressed his paws against the sand and glared upward. Fine. Then he'd need to take them out first.
That was when a black shape swam up to one of the swimming Silicon Dragons and hit him so hard he went flying up and out of the water, and landed outside of the edge.
Mudkip stared at the shape as it swam past, but focused on his actual enemies. He swept his paws across the sand of the bottom of the tank, until he had a ball of mud in his hand then tossed it up through the water. The mud slapped into the face of a Dragon just as he shot at Mudkip again, the blue-finned Pokemon tanking the blast with a pained snarl, though he forced himself to swim away as another laser passed him. The dragon passed out with a face full of mud, before someone else grabbed his gun and started shooting.
"Kip," Mudkip grunted, annoyed. These guys were worse than the Rockets.
He swam up and out of the water, jumping out and tackling one of the dragons in the chest. He dodged out of the way of the Asian man shooting at him before someone kicked him in the stomach. Mudkip rolled for a bit, landing on his back, and looked up in time to catch a boot to the face. He snarled when that was followed by a fist, the humans surrounding him quickly and hitting him with everything they had.
"Mudkip!" he shouted. He took blow after blow, and accepted them. They weren't the worst he'd taken. He rolled over to his back, covered his head with his paws, and bided his time, keeping his eyes open to watch for his moment.
One man ran up to join the group, aiming his laser gun down at Mudkip. "Move! I can kill it, get out of the way!"
Two dragons shifted aside. The man fired the laser point blank at Mudkip. He took the laser blast, hissing at the high heat, pain filling him.
"Kip!" Mudkip shouted, his mouth twisting in pain. The man prepared to fire again. Mudkip stared at him. He would survive. No matter what. Then he'd show them who they were messing with.
A black shape rose from the water behind him. One of the dragons noticed it out of the corner of his eye, and turned. Then his eyes widened in fear. "Oh god!"
There was a quick motion, the light rippling off shiny black and white skin, teeth flashing. The man about to shoot Mudkip was lifted off his feet by his throat and tossed like a ragdoll, smashing through a window.
The Silicon Dragons spun around, facing their new opponent. That was when Mudkip struck. His body, beaten and scratched, began to glow with scarlet energy, floating just over his skin. His grimace of pain snapped upward, teeth flashing in a savage smile. Mudkip's body exploded with red energy. The dragons were sent flying like leaves in a storm as he jumped up, smashing into their bodies. The black shape grabbed two of the dragons out of the air and slammed them into the ground, their bodies flopping against the pavement. That was when Mudkip and the being could see each other in full.
She towered over everyone around her, her body large and thick with muscles. She was built like a cross between Officer Jenny and a Machoke, but with black and white skin. The tatters of a shirt and pants were wrapped around her, stretched and ripped in sections, as though she had grown out of them in seconds, the wet clothes barely protecting her modesty across her chest and legs. Her head was shaped like a Sharpedo's but her teeth were more like Gible's, flashing as she glared at Mudkip with entirely black pupils, the fin on her back shining wetly in the light as she looked around at them.
She took a step forward. Then she froze. The large woman looked down at her legs. Her eyes widened. She stepped forward again, staring at herself. Her legs flexed, powerful muscles stretching wet denim.
The anger and rage in her face slowly faded. Awe replaced it, jaw dropping in amazement.
That was when Mudkip made the connection. Those clothes were the same ones Grace had been wearing. Grace, who had been in a wheelchair. Grace, now standing before him, staring with eyes wide at her own legs. She slowly touched her own knees, gasping the instant contact was made. Mudkip watched as joy came over her face, lips trembling.
Then someone shot her in the shoulder with a laser. She stumbled back, staring at the mark on her shoulder. It was a grazing shot, barely even a wound, leaving a nasty scorch mark.
She screamed, her voice echoing in the ears of every person in the area. She ran forward, hundreds of pounds of monster punching the man who'd shot her. He dodged, but her fist landed on his right him, sending him bouncing across the pavement.
Mudkip hit another man with a water gun as one of the guys tried to shoot him. Grace grabbed that guy by the arm and threw him off the roof, while someone tried to get to her from behind. A small blue Pokemon surrounded in waves of water crashed into him, shattering ribs and knocking the man out.
The dragons finally had enough apparently.
"Retreat!" Bryce shouted, grabbing one of his guys and pulling him back as Grace brought her fists down onto the head of another man. "Run! Now, go!"
The ones that weren't knocked out ran. Grace went to follow, snarling.
"Mudkip!" he cried to Grace. She looked over at him. For a moment, he wondered if she was lost in her rage. That happened to some Pokemon. They'd evolve and lose themselves in their new strength. Only wild ones, really, but it could happen.
She looked towards the running dragons. Finally she grimaced and turned towards Mudkip.
"...Kip," he said softly.
"...Fine," Grace whispered, coughing a bit as she spoke.
Mudkip led her to the shore, hopping over a fence. She hesitated before jumping it as well. As she landed, she stared at her legs again. Mudkip looked back at her and yipped, telling her to focus.
As they entered the ocean, a small army of Silicon Dragons were left to pick up after them.
They went for a couple of miles before Grace finally stopped. She swam up to the surface of the water and stayed up there. Mudkip went for a few feet before he had to stop.
In his defense, he was busy being furiously jealous! She evolved! Right in the middle of a fight! Mudkip had fought his hardest and still wasn't evolving! She did it with an injection!
What was in that stuff, rare candies!?
And he'd thought humans couldn't evolve like Pokemon. Were humans in this world different? Maybe they were like Eevee and other stone evolvers. Get hit with the right energy, and they'd change?
Whatever. Still wasn't fair. Mudkip worked really hard!
Consoling himself that he'd get there one day, he twisted in the water and went back to Grace.
She was staring up at the night sky, her eyes wide. She looked so strange. Like his master did sometimes. Sometimes, he'd stare up at the sky. And when he did, he looked so worried. That's how she looked, this strange looking woman. Worried and scared.
"Mudkip?" he asked, swimming up to place a paw on her arm.
She looked down at him. Before Mudkip could say anything, she smiled. "Hey… You were really trying to get me out of there, huh?"
"Kip," he nodded.
"...Thank you," she whispered. Her voice was deeper than before, with a small bit of reverberation like bigger water Pokemon had sometimes. "I…" she stared down at her hand. She closed it into a fist, then opened it. Her hand was shaking. She was crying. "I...Oh god!" she clutched herself, closing her eyes. "W-What did I do!? Look at me!" Grace raised her fist and smashed them into the water, sending a wave out from herself. Mudkip stared at her, shocked. "I'm… I'm a monster," her voice was hollow. Horror filled every word. "I took all of it. I could have thrown it on the ground!" she laughed, sounding hysterical. "I could have just broken the vials! ...But I didn't want to waste it."
Mudkip watched as she pressed her hands against her face. "I just wanted to walk again…"
...Honestly, Mudkip wasn't sure how to take that. For him, evolution was a goal. A chance to become who he was meant to be. To be stronger, bigger. She was acting like it was a bad thing.
But this was probably a strange human thing. It didn't really matter. She was sad, and she needed help.
Mudkip swam up. He wrapped his paws around her neck, hugging her gently. After a moment, a large hand wrapped around hiser back. She cried as they floated there, holding to him like a lifeline.
After a long moment, she calmed down enough to back away. "T-Thank you," she stuttered. "...God. I have nowhere to go," she said helplessly.
"...Mudkip," he grabbed her hand and pulled.
"Follow you?" she chuckled. "You're pretty helpful for a… whatever you are. A mutated Axolotl?"
He pointed at his chest. "Mudkip. Muuuuuudkiiiiiiip," he said slowly.
"Mudkip… Okay," she stared at him. "I'm Grace."
Mudkip nodded, then gestured for her to follow.
She looked down at her legs, waving powerfully in the water. Then she nodded.
As they swam side by side, she began to smile. Hesitantly, as fragile as glass. But as the former paraplegic followed a Pokemon in the ocean, she smiled.
Mahmoud Schahed/Kahu Kiaʻi
"ALAKAZAM!?" a startled shout came from the kitchen as I handed Kalini a fold up mattress I'd left aside in case one of the other ones I'd bought broke. Kalini stared out the door of his makeshift room.
"Does that happen a lot?"
"It's never happened," I rushed out of the room, Kalini following. While I went in the direction of Alakazam, thoughts rushed through my head.
Alakazam was never shocked. Surprised or annoyed sometimes, but never so shocked he would yell.
I got to the kitchen. Inside, Tyrunt was sitting on a table, staring at Alakazam. Slugma was sitting in her lava pit, her jaw dropped.
The psychic-type was glaring at the wall, eyes glowing white as he rubbed his temples. He turned to see me enter.
"Your starter has decided to cause chaos," Alakazam told me.
"What did Mudkip do?" I snapped.
"He decided that instead of watching the Aquarium, he would… well, here," Alakazam, instead of explaining things piece by piece, sent me what had happened in a series of fast images. He didn't do it often, since something like that was taxing on human minds. Like mind control on speed dial. I ended up with a headache from basically being forced to imagine/think thoughts that weren't my own, but now I knew the full story.
I clutched my head, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "...Orca?"
"Like the whale?" Kalini asked, confused.
"Yeah. But as a girl," I said, trying to figure out what had just happened. Mudkip had found Orca!?
I didn't know much about the character beyond that she was a Batman villain with a sympathetic backstory. Which, honestly, they all kind of have sympathetic backstories, so she didn't stand out much beyond being a whale woman. I think she and Killer Croc had a thing?
But this was Hawaii!? Not Gotham. What was she doing here?
Honestly, of everything I'd found out, the least surprising was the fact the Silicon Dragons had been trying to exploit her. We knew they'd want to find counters for my Pokemon, and they'd be working as fast as they could to find those.
The only surprising part was Orca, or Grace I guess, being around. So she was now in her full whale-hybrid form…
"God, this is enough worms for… I don't know, a thousand planets of pure spice."
"What does that even mean?" Kalini asked, before I ran past him.
"Okay, Alakazam, have Mudkip take her down the beach, we can't allow her in here until we know she's not a security threat," I went into my room, where a mannequin stood next to my bed, wearing the hockey mask I'd used to hide my identity. I took it and brought it down over my face. My fighting-type and ghost-type came to join us as I came out into the hall. "Gurdurr, you're my backup. If we need any help, then the rest of you come out, but until we can assess her properly, Grace Balin knows Kahu is visiting a beach with just two of his Pokemon."
"Gurdurr," he ran off to get his I-Beam. I placed on my longcoat and rushed for the entrance, grabbing my pistol as well. I thought Orca might be bulletproof, but if I was wrong, no reason not to take advantage.
"Is this really necessary?" Kalini asked, confused, watching me carefully look over my gun, checking the safety was on and that a bullet was in the chamber before I removed the safety and put it away.
"Being paranoid hasn't killed me, so I'm not going to stop right now," Just before I left, a thought occurred to me. "Mimikyu… Do you have enough fabric to make a bathrobe? A damn big one?"
"Kyu?"
Gurdurr and I stood side-by-side on the beach, waiting. Mudkip sent a message through the mental link Alakazam had set up to say that he was having trouble getting Grace (Had to be careful to think of her as Grace, not Orca since that codename didn't exist yet) to come towards us. After a couple of minutes, they came towards us. A pair of fins came toward us, one blue, the other black. Soon, they stepped out. Mudkip rushed over to me, hopping up and landing on my shoulder, rubbing his head against my neck. I raised a hand and scratched his head right where his fin met his skull, getting a purr, but still kept my eyes on his companion.
Orc-Grace, came slowly over to us, hesitating with each step, her eyes nervous. She was a sight to behold. Tall and muscular, but still very much a woman. Her skin was the same shiny and soft texture as the Killer Whale's that would later lend her the name she was most known by. She had clothes on, but they were way too small, stretching across her like wet napkins. She was pretty impressive all in all, even after all my time in the Pokemon world.
"Grace?" I asked as she came over.
She paused, staring at me. She licked her lips, fangs flashing. "Y-Yes. Who are you?"
"Kahu Kiaʻi," I'd been practicing the name. "Mudkip's friend."
"You're that superhero…" she whispered, staring at me. "On the news this morning."
"Nice to see my fame precedes me," I said like I was used to that sort of shit. "Here," I held out a hand to Gurdurr, who handed me a big bundle of cloth. "Those clothes were clearly made for your smaller form."
"You know about that?" she asked, shocked. I handed her the bundle, which she unfolded to see a robe of sorts just sewed out of three beach towels. She hesitantly wrapped it around herself. Had to give credit to Mimikyu. She'd done good work with almost no time.
"It's part of my shtick," I said with a sigh. "Come over here, Grace," I gestured to a bunch of rocks further down the beach. "Let's sit and talk."
She must have still been in shock. It was so weird, seeing a bulky eight-foot tall whale-woman meekly following me down the beach. Mudkip was whispering in my ear as we walked, Gurdurr keeping a critical eye on Grace. I sat down on the tallest rock, looking down at her. She sat down on one nervously. Even with me on a taller rock, she was still at eye level. Good.
"Grace… Mudkip told me what he knows."
"He did?" she stared at him, surprised. "I thought he could only say his own name!"
"It is a lot more than that when you know how to listen. But let's focus on what's important," I leaned forward, looking her up and down carefully. "The Silicon Dragons."
She stiffened, eyes flashing with raw emotions I couldn't read.
"They're my enemies. To say the least. They went after you to try and steal your research. What was it?"
"...Can't you tell?" a bit of life entered her voice. She flickered her eyes down at herself and smirked.
"No, I can't," I said. "Becoming an Orca-hybrid might appeal to some people, but I doubt that was the crux of your research."
"Why should I tell you anything?" she snapped. "Why don't I just-"
"Walk away?" I shrugged. "You can. I'm not trying to shake you down. I'm a helpful guy, so I'd love to supply room and board if you've got nowhere else to go. But you can always walk away from here. Just find a way back home… But you're a scientist, right? How old are you?"
"Twenty-four24."
That was a lot younger than I expected. She was younger than me. Well, my original body anyways. "So you've probably been running through the logic in your head, right? What this transformation means for you? What the Silicon Dragons taking you means?"
She snarled a bit, flashing her teeth. "...Fine you bastard. You want the truth? I wanted to cure paralysis."
I'd figured.
"I wanted to create a process to bond animal DNA to human DNA, to change that DNA until it could impart selected properties of choice to whoever we liked," her voice shifted, becoming almost lecturing in tone. "I started with orcas. I found that certain traits of orca whales could have regenerative properties when mixed with human genetics. Could even reverse the effects of paralysis."
She stopped and looked down at her feet. Her toes dug into the sand. She laughed. There was a lot in that noise. The combination of joy and sadness that I think only comes up a few times in a person's life.
"Guess it worked."
We sat there silently for a moment. She took a shuddering breath.
"I had to do a lot of my research alone. I'm a student. If I tried to actually share my crazy ideas, without real results, I'd be laughed out of Gotham University. So I took an internship at the Aquarium. They had samples of Orcas, samples no one would miss. I had some trouble with creating serum with the results I wanted, so I found a like-minded scientist on the internet… I knew it was a bad idea," she hissed those words out. "He was just… he offered me equipment, money. Not a huge amount, but more than I could get from the aquarium. Enough for my research… I was so close."
She stared down at her toes, though they were motionless now.
Damnit. Why are half the Batman villains so sympathetic you wanted to give them a hug? The other half were unrepentant psychopaths, but still. Even giant badass Bane had a sad story.
I had to think in those cynical terms, had to keep as logical as I could.
Mudkip, on the other hand, jumped into Grace's arms. He wrapped his arms around her, looking positively minuscule in her arms.
"I just don't understand why they had to kidnap me," she petted Mudkip sadly. "I was going to send my results. They didn't need to-"
"They were in a rush," I leaned forward, meeting eyes with Grace. "The Silicon Dragons. Have you heard of them?"
"I thought they were a two-bit gang. Like the Falcones."
"No. They're closer to Intergang."
"Who?"
"Right, Gothamite. Well, the facts are this. They have a policy of returning force with force. It's part of this bullshit 'code of honor' they believe in. So when they deal with normal cops, they use the sort of weapons that cops can carry. When they fight militaries, the assault rifles come out. When they fight superpowered animals like my Pokemon…"
I didn't explain further. She looked from Gurdurr to Mudkip, who jumped off her lap to land on the sand, sending up some grains.
"This is… your fault?" she said. I could see anger flitting in her eyes. She began to rise.
"No, it isn't," I stood up, glaring down at her. "The dragons decided to attack a friend of mine. I stopped them. As far as I'm concerned, that should be the end of it, but those assholes keep coming after my family!" I snapped out. "They hired assassins, keep chasing my friend, and now they're trying to steal superpowers in a can to try and kill me!"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I really am. You don't deserve this shit. Mudkip told me you were brave. That you injected yourself to keep those guys from getting the serum… So I'm sorry this happened to you. But I'm not going to take the blame for this. The dragons are. They kidnapped you, they tried to use you to make animal hybrid super-soldiers."
"They wouldn't have done it if-!" she shut her mouth and closed her eyes, clenching her fists in her lap.
"...Mudkip?" he implored quietly, pressing his paws against her knees.
She was shaking a bit. I sat back down on the rock in a huff, shaking my head. "Grace. I'm sorry. I really am."
"Well… good for you."
I winced. Yeah. She'd likely heard those words before when she'd been in a wheelchair.
"...I want to help you," I said at last.
"How?" she laughed tearily. For an absurd moment, I wondered if normal orcas could cry. "You know any experts with a Ph.D in Marine Biology and Biomedicine?"
"I know a rich guy who hates the Silicon Dragons, and one of my Pokemon has a superhuman brain and enough spite in him to fuel a nuclear reactor," I said, sending a certain psychic his cue.
"Ever the flatterer," Alakazam grumbled in my mind.
"What was that!?" Grace looked around, snapping up to her feet.
"Gurdurr," the fighting type grumbled.
"Yes, yes, I know your hatred for theatrics," Alakazam sent. "Ms. Balin, I am Alakazam. A Pokemon working with Kahu Kiaʻi. I am speaking to you telepathically, so you should stop looking for me before you get whiplash," Grace did just that, looking rather embarrassed, but also intensely intrigued. "I assure you, despite the gruffness he spoke to you in, he is telling the truth. We want to help you. Whatever the circumstances that led here, I think we can agree that your situation is unique, and thus requires unique help."
"How are you… actually, what are any of you?" she stared at Gurdurr, who hefted his I-Beam and shrugged. Then at Mudkip, who smiled at her. I caught her smiling back before she caught herself.
"We are Pokemon," Alakazam said. "Kahu Kiaʻi is our trainer. And we want to help. Will you ally with us?"
"...What do you get out of it?" she asked.
I stood up. For some reason, things felt way more serious than I expected. Mudkip hopped onto my shoulder. Gurdurr joined me at my side. The wind from the ocean blew my longcoat behind me, Grace looking up at me as we stood on a lonely beach, a storm on the horizon.
"I get to help someone who needs it. I get a scientist good enough that a criminal organization wanted to fund her research. What is really important… is you get to invest in a bit of revenge. What do you say? You can walk away. But if you join up… Well. Your life is going to change forever."
Grace Balin stared up at me. I held out a hand.
After a moment, she took it.
Author's Note:
Kahu: Now eat this hair.
Orca: What.
Jokes aside, this was a fun one to write. Next chapter, Kahu leads Grace into the exciting world of Pokemon, Giovanni and Kahu discuss the possible implications of the new superhuman in Hawaii, and Kalini eats more food. Also, dragon perspective if I can fit it in.
Sorry this is late. I've been sick today, so I just didn't have the energy post till now. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.
Also, please consider supporting me on . I've been getting support from there that has pretty much been saving my life there, so thank you guys who support me there. In return, all 5 dollar and up s get early access to new chapters of all my stories, so look out for that :D