Ragnarok

Note: I haven't written a story in so long, that I decided to do this little story here to pass the time by. Mostly inspired by Slash Firestorm's piece "Sinners" (go read if you haven't), and after a week of preparation and story outline, I'm confident that this will be a good story.

Please leave reviews and such, even harsh criticisms if necessary. The more criticisms I recieve, the more quality that I can put into my story. Simple as that.

With all this out of the way, all I can say is to enjoy the read!

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0:01
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Approximately days -150 to -22:
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Unless noted for from any point beyond, the log you lay eyes on reads from the perspective of Dr. Helio, lead scientist of project 1:2:1, codenamed for convenience: Genesis. Numerous scientist refuse to be identified throughout the entire duration of said project, and out of respect will remain anonymous. Dr. Helio is recorded to have volunteered for this project, for the lead position, and is also charged with logging the history of Genesis. Because of this, all actions and consequences from this point on, excluding the capture process, will hold Helio responsible.

Project Genesis: A project funded through the Sinnoh government. The ultimate goal of Dr. Helio's team is to discover the origins of Pokemon, fundamentally beginning with a study of the Mew species' DNA.

From what little information we have gathered from numerous other projects, specifically project 0:1:3 [from this point on conveniently dubbed "Project Mew"], the Legendary Pokemon we identify as Mew is shown to have access to an unlimited reservoir of offensive and defensive abilities once thought impossible due to its bodily shape and lack of features to use some of these techniques.. Project Mew itself was only successful in one area: the capture and confinement of a specimen. The project was abandoned due to lack of funds to continue, and the dangers of containing an increasingly hostile Legendary Specie. Said specimen was reported to have been released based on closing documents of the project. When we requested to analyze the documents, we received news that the documents had been missing for months following the Project's extermination, the Kanto government which funded the project reported to have never received the official logs and reports. With proper funding provided by the Sinnoh government, we were allowed to investigate, and came to the ultimate decision to retrace Project Mew's steps back to the testing site.

Eden: a small tropical island located to the North of Iron Island, and Northwest of the coast of Floaroma Town. It was only what felt like moments into the expedition that my colleagues and I uncovered a run down laboratory, located in the heart of the island. Our findings at the base were...

It would be an understatement to describe it as staggering.

Official documents were scattered in the testing site, and almost all evidence of Project Mew, the other side of Project Mew, remained intact. I however, have restricted myself, for my own sake, in what I can include in this log, and as such, am unable to speak of the details, although I'm sure that an event such as Project Mew would best be forgotten. Based on the information we discovered, we questioned the safety of Project Genesis, as both projects shared a certain aspect: We required a specie of Mew Pokemon in order to advance our research.

Based on the conditions of the research laboratory in Eden, most of my colleagues and I began to question our own safety.

All doubts were erased when my team entered the testing room. It was what was in that very room that drove our minds to continue working on Genesis: fragments of hair, and on the experimentation table in the center of the room, dried blood, both assumed to belong to Mew, based on the hidden reports of Project Mew. We had just skipped over the most challenging part of the process.

Attempting to acquire a specie of Mew was out of the question, the DNA we collected from the hair and dry blood was more than enough for us to truly begin Project Genesis.

I called such a discovery "dumb luck".

I can say one thing for sure, of Project Genesis. As a team, I doubt that most of us will survive the experimentation stage, based on our similarities to Project Mew.

As of now, survival rate stands at ninety-five percent past the processing stage.

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Approximately days -21 to -1:
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We've made yet another breakthrough.

As of our studies thus far, we've successfully been able to identify 492 species of Pokemon DNA within the hair and blood samples of the subject used in Project Mew, all of them species that have already been identified by other renowned scientists in the field of Pokemon study. From these, we could conclude that Mew definitely has a major role in the evolution of all Pokemon, and if this was all that there was to Mew's genetic structure, it would have ended Project Genesis. However, we recieved a message recently from one of my colleagues working with the DNA samples of Mew.

There seems to be another set of DNA, excluding the 492 we've discovered over the last few weeks. We were unable to identify the Pokemon. This prompted the second step to Project Genesis, as issued by the Sinnoh government.

We are to replicate this unknown DNA into a living, breathing Pokemon specimen, and identify it. Disregarding our refusal to clone any such Pokemon, the Sinnoh government threatens us with prison and death sentences in the form of twisting the experiment (they quoted it as a "trump card" for any negotiations. We called it blackmail), to make us sound like a group of "heretics", swaying away any harm that can come to the officials of the Sinnoh region. Refusal to continue was, at the same time, classified to them as "treason", and being charged with such can destroy a person, financially and psychologically. Fearing for our careers, financial stability, families, and our own lives, we had to continue.

No death has been presented to my colleagues just yet. However, as said in the previous log, we have yet to begin the experiment stage of Project Genesis, so a lack of death was to be expected at such an early point of the process.

With no absolute answer to what we are creating, and with what total disregard we have to nature, we are attempting bringing an unnatural and unknown Pokemon into our unstable environment.

I pray the results to lack the catastrophe Project Mew suffered. We will move to a separate and discrete location for the continuation of Genesis.

Survival rate as of now.....eighty percent.

The experimentation stage begins tomorrow. God help us.

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Approximately days 0 to 24:
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It's truly unfortunate that I have to report that we've already lost one of our best genetics scientists this early in the experimentation stage. He, like everyone else (the exception being myself), opted to be anonymous, and I will continue to respect his wishes, so I am unable to reveal his identity through these reports.

Although I cannot reveal which of our scientists we've lost, I can report to you the cause of his untimely death.

The results of our research and genetic cloning process were slow, but profitable to my colleagues and I. For the last three weeks, we had contained the cloned Pokemon in a test tube, to keep it from being infected or damaged by outside sources. However, two mornings ago, we witnessed something indescribable. The Pokemon embryo that we've been caring for made a tremendous leap from the development stage, to the baby stage of a standard Pokemon (this means its level was along that of other infantile Pokemon such as Happiny and Togepi). It managed to be kept alive thanks to our amazing medical team, who I thank for their expertise in that field of Pokemon study. After it was reported to be in great health, we decided to let it out of the tube, and analyze how it acted out due to its instincts, and to see just how strong its cognitive thought process was.

We set up a series of obstacles for the Pokemon to overcome. Simple obstacles of course: Running a maze to find food, jumping over a pit to get to another path, and interacting with Humans and other Pokemon.

Hours passed like seconds when we realized just how much potential this Pokemon seemed to have. It has shown the senses of Smell, Touch, Taste, Sight, and Hearing, through the obstacle courses and trials we've set for it. Its cognitive thinking skills were nothing short of amazing. We allowed it to communicate, based on its high level of thought processes, with a specimen Alakazam that one of my colleagues had brought from his journeys. Alakazam revealed signs of fatigue when trying to establish a simple connection with the child Pokemon, and moments afterward collapsed and fell unconscious from the sheer power that emitted from the clone. Other Pokemon on hand at the laboratory couldn't even recognize its signature; Psychic types fainted, dark types actually fled into their pokeballs, while all other Pokemon simply shivered and obviously conveyed a large sense of fear at this three week old Pokemon. The clone’s abilities at that point were apparent. High intelligence, great mental capabilities (judged simply from the Alakazam incident. We decided not to test the limits due to the lab's safety protocols), and even as a child, intimidating other opponents simply by existing. This Pokemon obviously had the potential to be one of the strongest Pokemon of all, based on these small tests and experiments.

However, this Pokemon became a threat to us...to humanity, when we tried to get it to interact directly with humans. We sent in the now deceased scientist to try to befriend the Pokemon by offering it gifts: food, water, and etcetera. We assume that the Pokemon was deeply analyzing this human as he approached it, based on the high values of its thought processes as the scientist drew closer. Suddenly without warning, the brain waves of the Pokemon went haywire. The clone began showing physical signs of distress, backing into a corner, and screeching in a high pitch to try to intimidate the scientist. My colleague drew back a few steps to give it some room, but the damage had been done, and his fate had been sealed.

Before he could exit the room through the shutters, the Pokemon emitted a strange energy force from its body, and the shutters welded together, preventing him from escape. We had to watch in awe at what had happened next.

The Pokemon began to shudder and cry in pain, and based on the recordings of the brain waves, it could have technically been considered dead. Everything, from breathing to involuntary heartbeat, stopped completely, yet...the Pokemon still stood, wide-eyed and distressed. Its systems started to act again after a moment, and it began to cough uncontrollably. At first, we thought it to be a simple reflex from the lack of oxygen it was breathing. We couldn't have been farther from the truth in this scenario.

A black substance spilled from the clone’s mouth, gushing onto the floor in front of it. The properties were definitely bizarre from what we had seen: It was jet black, a semi-solid, and gave off a rich purple glow. What was even more amazing, was what happened afterward: It started showing signs of life on its own. It shook in place at first, but slowly began to crawl toward the scientist. Within moments, it leapt from the ground, and slapped itself upon his face. I believe I missed the action...I blinked.

My colleague shrieked in pain as it orally entered into his body. To watch him slowly suffer this way was devastating to our morale. Not only were we unable to help him, but we were incapable of even identifying the substance. We believed it to be a variation of the move Toxic, but what happened to the poor man next sent that theory into oblivion.

After the substance was completely gone, the scientist began to emit steam from his body. He too, like the substance, began to glow purple, and in what looked to be a painful way to die, he...

...he literally melted into the ground.

After Incident #1, all that was left of him was his goop-drenched clothes. The Pokemon, on the other hand, seemed completely unharmed, and seemed to have made a perfectly safe recovery.

Despite this, which I've reported to the government, they continue to pressure us with charges of treason, amongst other felonies that would befall us should we quit during this stage. We had no choice but to continue, jeopardizing our lives even further.

We had to avoid any physical contact at all costs.

.........

After a quick conference with the rest of the development team, we decided to nickname the substance. Bile.

..........

As of the incident, survival rate is now...thirty percent.

Something ominous is looming, and the cause is in the child-creature living just a few steps down the hall...

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Day 31:
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What have we done...?

A week ago today, we had believed that avoiding physical contact with the Pokemon would be enough to prevent it from excreting more bile that could potentially harm us. We had no idea of what power we were tampering with.

It definitely aged much faster than other Pokemon. As of today, it has shown signs of Adulthood. Ten days at least, and it has already fully developed. One wonders how such a powerful species went extinct.

That's what I thought before something else occurred to me in my thoughts. "What if it wasn't extinct?"

It's possible. Giratina has been confirmed, as well as Palkia and Dialga, all whom exist in alternate realities from our own, and Deoxys was a Pokemon affected by the recesses of space. It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to believe that this Pokemon could also exist somewhere beyond Earth.

As a side note, I'm the only active member of my team starting today. The rest of my colleagues have been...disposed of by the bile. If anything, I consider myself lucky at most.

The bile attacked after a red alert was issued by the medical team as it analyzed the fully adult clone using machines. However, I believe that the Pokemon saw through the machinery and thick metal walls that coiled its "room", and found out the truth about what exactly was going on. From reports of my fellow scientists, it again lost complete consciousness, and then expelled a large quantity of bile onto the surface of the floor.

At first, we though it would be harmless, since the bile and the Pokemon were both sealed in the "room".

We had no idea that the clone had learned Hyper Beam during the development stage.

The attack easily tore a hole in the metal, stretching to the ends of the lab, as well as...completely vaporizing the medical team. The bile quickly lashed out, splitting and spreading, and quickly infected the rest of my crew.

We had designed an emergency panic room for this type of situation, and I, being the one closest to the room at the time, took the initiative and entered, shutting the door behind me. At the speed the bile was spreading, it wouldn't have made a difference. Surveillance cameras within the room revealed to me...something more about this bile. It doesn't just destroy...it controls.

Moments after ingesting the bile, my colleagues unwillingly sent their Pokemon out of their pokeballs, and forced them to fight each other 'till death. Watching Pokemon rip each other apart (literally), along with the defeated trainer, is definitely one of the worst experiences I've ever had to endure. A loud explosion from the outside of the panic room shut down the surveillance system, leaving me with no connection to the rest of the lab. Considering the magnitude of this incident, and the imminent deaths of my colleagues outside, I'm almost one-hundred percent certain that no one survived the battle. Anyone who had lived would eventually "melt" like the first victim regardless.

Minutes lingered by as the camera systems re-connected to the lab, rebooting and turning on once again to reveal to me the carnage. Some bodies I couldn't even recognize at first (one in particular must've been cut into pieces by a vicious Slash attack. Someone did mention that they owned a Scyther), while others were completely missing. The clone was standing in the center of the room, surveying the damage. I continued to wonder why it hadn't noticed that I was still alive, but then I caught something on the camera that I'm surprised I didn't see sooner.

The bile that infected the scientists must have a large negative feedback on the Pokemon, based on the video. It fell onto its side, and began to cry in agony, cringing and shaking as a result of the release of the substance. The clone rolled up into a ball, the clone's movements becoming slower after each passing second. It let out a roar, one that the heavens would fear, and, from what I assume, died.

The experiment...as well as Project Genesis...was a complete and utter failure.

.....

It's a shame that there were some flaws to the panic room. We didn't consider that something like bile would ever attack us, so we didn't make the room...airtight. A small sample slipped through the opening at the bottom of the door.

I couldn't avoid it.

At this time, I've ingested the small amount of bile.

I've sent a report of Incident #'s 1 & 2 to the Sinnoh Government. I'm sure I won't hear a reply. As of now...they've already assumed that I'm dead.

I might as well be...

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Day 32:
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The Sinnoh Government made an announcement over all television stations yesterday, claiming to have discovered what we strived so hard to create throughout Project Genesis, though the truth has been more than stretched to befit the minds of the citizens and uninformed Sinnoh officials, including Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. I have been asked to terminate all reports of Genesis except for one full copy of the findings to the government; however, I refuse to comply with their orders, and will be sending this log to you undetected.

The name we gave the Pokemon, like the stations reported...is Arceus. Whether or not it is, or is not, linked to the beginning of the universe's origin is still debatable, but at the very least, we have discovered a Pokemon with the ability to destroy matter on a whim. Just imagining that any being can do such a thing is simply frightening. It's because of this "feeling" of power I had from the cloned Arceus that I personally believe it to be...a deity of sorts.

The bile has almost completely overwhelmed my person. Its potency is obvious, I only absorbed a fraction of what my colleagues had to endure. This is the only explanation I can conjure up for why my will has yet to submit to the substance.

I...I apologize for everything my unit has done, what we brought into the world of the living, what we created, what we potentially could've done. We walked into a boundary that humankind was never meant to cross into, and for doing so, my team paid the ultimate price. Project Genesis has found a substance that threatens the world in its entirety. The ability to consume, control, and decay is devastating, and I pray that such a substance never manages to reach our mortal plane ever again, or, god forbid, fall into the wrong hands.

The last hypothesis I have regarding Genesis: You can't have one, without the other, they must counter-act each other, neutralizing the effects of either.

My body is already beginning to fall under the spell of the substance. Surprisingly though...it feels wonderful (of course disregarding the fact that it's painfully eating me from the inside out), like a huge weight is being lifted off of my shoulders, a sort of ecstasy is overwhelming my body (it feels like...bliss). Within minutes, I will become nothing more than a mere shell of my former self, consumed, and moments afterward...

I'll expire, just as my colleagues before me.

As of now, survival rate is zero percent.

News of this deed, brought about by the devil itself...shall never reach anyone else outside of Sinnoh's government, except you, my trusted friend.

Please, take care... and guard this information with your life...

...Professor Samuel Oak.

---Dr. Kuma Helio, lead scientist of Project 1:2:1---

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"..."

Pale faced, dark rings beginning to develop around his eyes, and a feeling of absolute helplessness overwhelmed Professor Oak as he finished reading the final reports of Dr. Helio. He shakily motioned to turn the PC off, and as soon as the light that bloomed from the monitor dimmed out, he rushed himself out of the room, shaking and coughing.

Disturbing.

The concept of humankind going so far as to create a copy of God, ordered by the government to do so.

The combined weight of this concept, and the loss of his good friend Helio, forced Oak to his knees...