Soul of the Machine
Chapter Two: Malfunction

In the dilapidated underground lab of the notorious Clefairy scientist, Dr. Solaria Clefarious, a robot Shaymin in its Sky Forme, formerly the intellectual investigator, C, was exhibiting itself for its master and her happy-go-lucky Whimsicott assistant, Tony. It was looking around the darkened room, its red tinted pupils emitting a beam of red light.

“Shaymin_Bot,” Clefarious spoke, pushing up her glasses. “Issue your scan report.”

The moment the command was spoken, the obedient machine stopped its scanning and turned to face its genius creator. “10 items of machinery found, all deactivated and in critical condition,” it reviewed, the red glow in its eyes dying down. “No other life-forms found.”

“Wow! That was impressive, C, yep!” Tony complimented, patting the Shaymin’s back.

“Inaccurate statement, Whimsicott,” C stated, “I am Pokemon Robot S-492, SF Model, also known as Shaymin_Bot_SF. The name ‘C” does not exist in my memory banks.”

“Tony, stop messing around and get ready to leave,” Clefarious ordered, irritation in her tone. “If the Shaymin found us here, what is stopping Cutey Punny or her friends showing up too?”

“Doc, if they show up, we can destroy them with Shaymin_Bot, yep!” Tony announced, rubbing his paws together excitedly and grinning widely.

Clefarious sighed and took off her glasses to give them a wipe. “While impressive, Shaymin_Bot has yet to be tested in battle,” she calmly noted. “I would prefer that we retreat to another laboratory to analyze his other abilities without the fear of future interruption.”

“Say no more, doc!” Tony exclaimed, raising his paw in salute. He blew across the room upon a stream of wind he conjured up, landing next to the computer. After quickly typing a few keys, a door-sized panel slid open to the right of the huge monitors.

“Let’s go, Shaymin_Bot,” Clefarious commanded, starting her stroll over to the secret exit.

However, despite his assigned programming, C did not move. He stood there, his head beginning to vibrate; slowly at first, but it gradually became more aggressive. C’s eyes turned green, binary coding scrolling at a fast speed. “Error! Error!” he loudly proclaimed as sparks shot from his head.

At that moment, Clefarious swirled around on the spot, her face already possessing a scowl. “I knew there would be some bugs!” she declared with a growl.

“Unknown error in...” the malfunctioning automaton began to explain before something inside his head blew. His eyes turned black and his head fell limp.

“What happened?” Tony asked in worry, gliding swiftly over to his boss on a stream of wind.

“Shaymin_Bot, reboot, now!” Clefarious snapped.

After half-of-a-minute, the robotic legendary held its head back up, his eyes glowing white while he was rebooting. The glow subsided as soon as he was back online. His first move was to place his paw against his head and groan, surprising Clefarious and Tony.

“Where...am I...? Why does my head feel all stiff?” he pondered out loud, voice still robotic.

“Shaymin_Bot, state your name and programming!” Clefarious hastily commanded, reaching into her left pocket.

“Shaymin...bot...?” C inquired, head tilted slightly to the one side.“That’s a ...incongruous name. My name is C, Clefairy.”

“Hmpf, yes, of course you are,” Clefarious replied, bringing out a small silver device that resembled a pen. “Just stay still while I deactivate you.”

C suddenly hopped back out of the scientist’s reach.“You will do nothing of the sort, Clefairy!” he angrily announced. “Though a huge part of my memory is escaping me, I still know you are not to be trusted!”

Clefarious sighed. “Tony, take care of this!” she snapped, holding out her paw with the gadget in it.

“Right-o, doc!” Tony exclaimed in dedication to his boss, summoning up a Tailwind.

The Shaymin looked intensely at the Whimsicott, miscellaneous data appearing in his eyes. “Caution required: Whimsicott possesses unusual speed!” he analyzed out of the blue. He shook his head, snapping out of his data research phase. “What...just happened...?”

Tony darted across the room, pushed by a powerful gust of wind. He grabbed Clefarious’s pen-like tool as he passed by. C pushed off the ground, taking to the air, scarcely evading a diving Tony. The speedy Grass-Type cried in astonishment as he hit the ground and slid all the way across to the other side of the room.

“Tony, you dolt!” Clefarious loudly scolded. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop screwing around?”

“It’s time for my departure,” C declared, circling the air, looking for any possible exits. “I bid you all a fine farewell.”

Tony sprung up into the air right before him, a grin stretched across his face. “You’re not going anywhere, yup!” he said, stabbing towards the Shaymin with Clefarious’s device.

In response, C sighed and simply flew around the young lackey and headed for the secret entrance that was opened earlier. Tony gave chase the second he landed, using another Tailwind to boost his pace.

“It appears I may need help...” Clefarious said to herself coolly, pushing up her glasses.

---

The next day dawned, bringing in seasonal warmth to the entire region. The morning sun shone over a small town populated only by Pokemon that went by the name of Harmony Town. One of the buildings that stood out was a three-story architecture that resembled an apartment block. A young Pikachu stepped out from his home on the third floor and yawned. It was Yuri Volten, a Pikachu not like any other. With his striking white cheek sacs, his emerald green eyes, a female cut in his tail and pair of red goggles, Yuri really stood out amongst the crowd.

“Wow, it’s not every day that you are up before I am, Honeybutt,” a voice commented from behind the electrical rodent.

Yuri smiled. “I felt like having an early start, Thashy,” he said, turning around to face his Murkrow partner, Thash. “I am meeting up with Nido and Dani soon.”

“You should eat first,” Thash said, twitching at the mention of his partner’s teammates, spreading his smile. “I will cook you breakfast.”

“Its okay, Thashy,” the Pikachu responded, giving Thash a quick kiss on the cheek. “I will get something to munch on along the way.”

The Murkrow sighed and shook his head. “Do whatever you want, you stubborn Chu,” he answered, eventually adding in a chuckle and a hug. “Just take care of yourself today. Don’t start fights with any Mienshao.”

Yuri chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “I promise, Thashy,” he said. “I won’t quickly judge a Pokemon again.”

At that moment, a Pelipper plopped down on the railings with a bag of mail hung over his right wing. He dug into his bag, took out a letter and gave it to Yuri. The big-billed bird gave a salute before taking to the air in a single flap.

“Let me guess, it’s one of those Rescue Team requests?” Thash assumed, peeking over his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“No, it’s a letter from Molo,” Yuri informed the Murkrow, noticing a unique stamp in the top corner of the envelope. It had the picture of his Lopunny friend, Molo, on it, giving a V sign and cheesy grin. “I wonder why he is writing to me...” The Pikachu cleared his throat and read aloud. “Dear Yuri, how are you? It’s me, Molo! Usually I would pay you a visit in person, but my family and I are preparing to go on a cruise? Did you hear that? A cruise! Finally, my life-long endeavours are finally being rewarded!”

“Just get to the point already, Yuri!” Thash hastily suggested, tapping his talon on the ground impatiently.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Yuri said to Thash before skipping over a couple of paragraphs. “Anyway, Yuri, since I will be away, I expect you to take care of any villain that threatens everyone with their lame ass plan. Dad is busy playing the same silly game Morton is obsessed with, Cutey Punny is, um, visiting, a friendly region and I haven’t seen Allie around, but I assume she is busy too.”

“I guess this means more work for you, Honeybutt,” Thash deduced with an amused chuckle, rubbing Yuri’s shoulders. “Promise you will return home to see me once in awhile, okay?”

Yuri laughed, picking up on his boyfriend’s joke rather quickly. “Well, we both better get moving,” he said, walking into his home for a few seconds and coming back out empty-handed. “Take care, Thashy!”

Yuri dropped to all fours and dashed down the steps that led to the ground floor and exited the complex.

---

Meanwhile, at a mansion far away from any village and town, the devious genius from another planet, Clefarious, was waiting just outside the grounds, her back pressed up against a wall. Tony the Whimsicott was sitting down on the ground close to Clefarious, looking up the sky through a pair of binoculars and moving his feet from side to side playfully.

“Where is that Swellow?” Clefarious growled to herself, tapping her foot impatiently.

“I can’t see him yet, doc, nope!” Tony replied, briefly looking away from his binoculars to give Clefarious a cheerful beam.

A Swellow swooped down from the opposite direction Tony was looking, startling him when he landed. Like Clefarious, he wore attire and gear that would suit a human rather than a Pokemon. The bird Pokemon was wearing a green visor and had thick black metal straps around both of his wings with a small but deadly canon-like weapon attached. Around his feathery waist was a silvery belt with a black box clipped on the far right-hand side.

“It’s about time you got here, Sharpbeak!” Clefarious snapped in a tone of disapproval.

“Let’s make this quick, Clefairy,” the Swellow sharply spoke, passing by the scientist at a brisk pace. “I don’t have much time.”

Clefarious showed a displeased expression but remained silent and followed the bird into the prosperous grounds. Tony was quick to follow behind, looking around at the flourishing property in a fascinated daze. A Bellossom gardener was sitting at the base of a Bisharp statue eating a brown chunk of food, looking at the trio of strangers enter her boss’s mansion without saying a word. The door was wide open with an Audino and Cinccino maid standing either side. The two females tried to avoid eye contact with the villains and exchanged worrying glances with each other the moment they passed.

“Ah, here are my guests!” a male’s voice spoke. “Come into my living room.”

The guests immediately walked into the living room where they were greeted by a black and white Eevee named Nevah, who was dressed in a maid uniform, holding out a tray with two cups of tea on it. While Clefarious and Sharpbeak ignored her presence entirely, Tony happily took a cup and sat down on the carpet to drink it.

Sitting in his armchair, indulging in a glass of wine and smoking on a long cigarette-holder alternatively, was Darkening Lotsamoni the stereotypically snobby Pikachu. He watched as Clefarious and Sharpbeak approached, pointing towards a single armchair opposite him, smirking smugly. Clefarious sat on the chair and her Swellow accomplice stood by the side, shooting a slight glare at the smoke-puffing rodent.

“So, what is this thing called again?” Sharpbeak crudely asked. Darkening’s eye twitched at the comment.

“It’s, I mean, he is Darkening Lotsamoni,” Clefarious replied, pushing up her glasses. “He is the only wealthy Pokemon that is suited for this assignment.”

“Ah, speaking of which, I would prefer we wait until the curtains are closed,” Darkening advised before clicking his finger to summon a maid. “After all, I don’t want any outsider to peep and discover I am talking to...Pokemon such as you.”

Sharpbeak resisted the urge to blast Darkening in his face, choosing to just grumble profanity under his breath. A white-coated Pichu hopped into the room in place of a maid and pulled the cords to close the curtains.

“Yuki, I thought I told you not to disturb me for a couple of hours,” Darkening said, followed up by a sigh.

“I was only helping,” the snow-white Pichu sadly responded, walking out of the room with her head hung.

“Lotsamoni, my time and patience is short,” Sharpbeak informed the affluent Pikachu. “Let’s get this deal over and done with.”

“Ah, of course, how rude of me,” Darkening said with a chortle, handing his empty wine glass to Nevah. “Before we begin,” he started to add, sending his Eevee maid with a paw wave. “I want my new apprentice to be here to see how true business is done.”

“Your...apprentice...?” Clefarious inquired with a raised left eye.

At that moment an uneasy Haunter floated up from behind the Pikachu’s chair. He gazed nervously at the two sinister visitors, slowly pushing up his glasses up his face. He hovered down closer to Darkening.

“I thought I made myself perfectly clear when I told you to keep this meeting as private as possible,” Clefarious told Darkening with a scowl.

Despite receiving glares from the two dangerously-armed felons, Darkening kept his composure, blowing out smoke. Sharpbeak’s wing twitched in a more violent manner, his temper on the brink of exploding.

“Shadow here will do whatever I say and I promise you that he won’t speak a word of this to anyone, not even the maids,” the rich electrical rat explained, shooting the young ghost a cautious glare. “Isn’t that right?”

“It is, sir,” Shadow meekly answered, adding in a nod.

“Clefarious, the four-eyed spectre’s presence is minor while my tolerance is not,” Sharpbeak spoke, his tone and face darkening. “Just focus on this absurd rodent and get on with it.”

“Out of all the other rich Pokemon you could have seen,” the proud Pikachu went on to say, ignoring the feathery fiend’s words. “Molner, Reichtum, Manchot, Renade...out of all of them, you chose me. For a Pokemon in such silly clothes, you are very wise.”

“Actually, doc chose you because of your shady past and your disconnection to the rest of the rich, yep!” Tony chimed in, hopping up onto Darkening’s arm rest.

Darkening’s high-and-mighty attitude quickly dimmed as his smirk curled into a scowl. He blew smoke straight into the cheery Whimsicott’s face, sending him into a coughing and spluttering spree. Tony dropped off the arm rest and hit the ground with comical spirals in his eyes.

“So,” Darkening began after taking a deep exhale, “let’s just get down to business, doctor Clefarious.”


-To be continued-

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C the Shaymin owned by  mrtherandomguy42

Yuki and Audino maid owned by Yukithewhitepichu from DA.

Nevah Gem owned by  tails230

Shadow owned by  l_lawliet


Pokemon is owned by Nintendo.


Icon by  kotiaku