Chapter 3: Lab Work ‘Why do you think he said that? It doesn’t make any sense. If he knows something that could endanger us then why didn’t he just say that?’ They were sitting in the Development Lab, examining the stone Stealth had kept under a microscope. “I don’t know, Alalia. Perhaps he suspects something is going to happen, but he can’t prove it. He wouldn’t want to worry us with the information if there was a possibility it was false. But in the case that it were real, he warned us. But I can’t see what would cause him to say what he did. I’m always on my guard and I haven’t told anyone my real name since I was twelve.” ‘But you do trust a lot of people, more than you know.’ “True, but not blindly. If I trust some one it’s because I have a reason to do so.” Alalia nodded then replied, ‘Well, whatever the reason, we should listen to him. He has your best interest in mind. I think he’s very fond of you.’ “He’s a leader, he can’t afford to have favorites,” Stealth responded dryly. Alalia merely shrugged and didn’t reply. They worked in a silence for a while, Stealth shifting the odd stone this way and that and making notes on a notepad, and Alalia examining a strange item that was currently being developed. Neither noticed some one come in and sit down at another table. “Hey, Stealth, what are you doing?” Stealth jumped and spun around, stuffing the stone into a pocket as she did so. “It’s rude to spy on people, Tel. How long have you been sitting there?” Tel laughed and replied, “I didn’t mean to startle you, I figured you heard me come in and just ignored me.” “You didn’t answer my question,” Stealth said coldly. “Five minutes tops, I swear,” the boy crossed his arms defensively and added, “there’s no need to take such a harsh tone. I was just curious.” The girl relaxed and said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to snap.” She stared at him for a moment, considering what to say next. Tel was younger than her by about three months. His hair was light brown and his eyes were grey. He dressed in brown pants and a green shirt covered by a lab coat because he worked in the labs more often then anything else. He and Stealth were good friends and she got along better with him than with anyone else, except her Pokemon of course. “Why are you here?” She asked, trying to keep an accusatory note out of her voice. “I thought you were working in the Pokemon Research Lab this week.” “I was, but I finished my work in there yesterday and decided to come and see if I could make any head way on the potions.” Stealth nodded, glancing at the bottles sitting in a line on the table he was sitting at. Potion bottles looked a lot like perfume bottles with a small handle you could squeeze to make it spray. Most of the items developed by the Resistance bared a resemblance to something else. The Pokedex, for example, looked a lot like a Razr cell phone. Because almost all cell phones looked like that these days, it was a good disguise. Potions, on the other hand, didn’t really need a disguise at the moment because no trainers were allowed to have any. They were so hard to make that there were only about twenty in existence at the moment. Nobody had been able to find a way to make a lot of them in a short amount of time. Only two had been used. One was a test to see if they actually worked, the other was used on a Pokemon who had been badly hurt and had to be healed quickly or die. The Resistance’s potions had the healing power of a super potion but they had chosen to simply call them potions because the term “super potion” would imply that there was a weaker potion in existence. The strange liquid had been invented after months of research and testing. It was a hazy liquid that was very hard to make. It required just the right amount of herbs, water, minerals, and other various ingredients to make. The process was so complex that only a select few, Tel included, were allowed to attempt to make them. This also meant that they were very rare and only used in emergencies. How Tel or anyone else planned to mass produce them, Stealth had no idea. “So what’s your plan?” Asked Stealth, leaning back in her chair and eying the bottles curiously. “Do you plan to invent a machine that can mix the ingredients together correctly, or do you plan to find a faster way of mixing them?” “Both, actually. Plus there are a few other things I’d like to try.” “Like what?” Tel grinned and said, “I’m not supposed to reveal my current theories to anyone in case they try to steal my work,” his grin widened and he continued, “but I supposed if you were to say pretty please I could reveal some of it to you.” Alalia made a choking noise and turned quickly to catch the look on Stealth’s face. The girl was giving her friend a very cold look that would have made others flinch. Tel knew her well though, and didn’t say or do anything. “It’s not that important,” she said finally, turning back to her notebook and flipping the page. “Whatever you say,” Tel replied cheerfully, turning back to his own work. “What were you looking at earlier, if you don’t mind my asking.” “I mind your asking,” Stealth replied tartly. “All right, all right, no need to get snippy. It can’t be that important if you’ve already finished looking at it.” He tapped one of the potion bottles lightly then pulled an empty beaker towards him and began adding ingredients. “By the way, I just thought I’d warn you. Silver, Kit, Kenny, and Yin are going to be working in here today. Probably others too. So if you want to study something in private I’d advise taking some of this stuff back to your room and doing it there.” “Thanks for the tip.” Stealth carefully selected a small microscope and placed in her pocket. It was one of the ones that had been sitting on the shelf that held the spare items so it wouldn’t be missed. She would return later that day when she had finished her examinations. The next chance she got, she’d go out and try to find another stone so she could run more advanced tests on it. She didn’t want to risk damaging the stone she currently held. She felt a kind of duty to protect it and she had already grown fond of it. She exchanged a few more words with Tel but he was busy working with the potions so the conversation soon ended. She raised a hand that he returned and left. Outside in the hall she saw Kit and Silver walking towards her. She nodded to both of them and they nodded back before entering the lab she had just left. She looked around to see if anyone else was coming then moved on towards her room. She knew Tel wouldn’t mention her even being in the Development Lab, but she was sure Kit would. Of course, she hadn’t been in the lab when the two girls had appeared, but there was no doubt they had seen her leaving it. If the microscope she carried was discovered missing, Kit would no doubt turn to her. She had never done anything to deserve the accusation, but she and Kit were not the best of friends. ‘Good thing Tel gave us that tip about the others coming. It would have been really annoying if they had walked in while you were making notes or examining the stone. Silver might have ignored it but Kit would have been all over you to find out what you were up to. That girl is far too nosy for her own good.’ Stealth laughed softly as the two turned down the hallway the led to their room. “Very true, but she has a right to be. Anyone who had to suffer through government interrogation should be more curious about their surroundings than others. It wouldn’t hurt it she were a little nicer to me though. It’s not my fault I was off fighting a Blaze Heart when she was captured.” ‘I’m sure you’d feel ill towards her if she hadn’t helped you escape when she was the one in the best position to help.’ “I know, but I didn’t even know she was in trouble until several hours afterwards. No one did. I was just the unlucky one who was closest to her. If I had known…” ‘Yes, yes, I know. Don’t start again.’ They had reached the door to Stealth’s room. She punched in the pass code and entered as the door slid open. Once it had closed behind her she walked over to her desk and took the microscope out of her pocket. It was tiny but powerful and would do the job. She placed it on her desk then sat down and pulled out the stone. “I wonder what it’s called,” she said thoughtfully as she placed the stone under the microscope and flipped open her notebook. ‘Who knows. Maybe it hasn’t been named yet.’ “Possibly,” Stealth replied distractedly, staring at the shimmering stone. “This is so odd though, I can’t figure out anything about it. The silver is made up of crystals, but they’re moving and there doesn’t seem to be anything making them move. The gold is also made up of a kind of crystal shaped mineral, but they’re…glowing. It’s very hard to see but they’re definitely glowing, and there’s no cause for that either.” ‘But, it’s the silver that’s glowing, not the gold.’ Stealth frowned and shifted the stone under the microscope. “The glow on the gold is silverish I think, and the silver crystals are emitting some kind of light as well.” She leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers behind her head. “This is one strange stone. It glows, it moves, and it’s giving off some kind of strange aura. It’s no wonder Boss said they’re power was great. But I still have no clue what kind of power they have.” ‘Maybe they’re this world’s version of evolutionary stones.’ “That’s a possibility, but if they are, they sure don’t look it. You look almost exactly like a Nidorina from the show, a few minor differences, yes, but still perfectly recognizable for what you are. If these stones are meant to evolve Pokemon, why don’t they at least resemble the stones from your world.” ‘Good point.’ Both were silent, trying to think of what the stones could be. Finally Alalia said, ‘You should name them.’ Stealth blinked. “Well that was rather random.” She stared at the shimmering silver swirls flying around inside the stone then said, “They must have a name. Boss didn’t find out about them himself. He heard about them from some one else. I bet he knows what they’re called.” ‘If he knew what they were called, wouldn’t he have told us?’ “Not likely. He didn’t even tell us who he heard about them from or why he wanted them. If we knew the name of the stone, we could probably find out what they were used for and where they come from. He wouldn’t want us knowing that, I’m sure.” ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right. He’ll probably tell us what they’re called when he tells us what they do and why he wants them. But we can’t just keep calling them stones, they need another name. A temporary one at least.’ “All right, all right, if it means that much to you I’ll think of a name.” She took the stone out from under the microscope and held it in her hand. She would never admit it to anyone, especially Alalia, but she had been very keen on the idea of giving the stone a name. She had found it, hadn’t she? It had no name to her knowledge, so why shouldn’t she give it one? Besides, it seemed almost rude to keep referring to it as “the stones”. “Silvera,” she said at last. Alalia considered the name, ‘It’s a nice name, but it seems to be more of a name that refers to one thing, not many.’ Stealth shrugged and replied, “Well, I only have one stone, right? Besides, it suits it perfectly.” ‘How so?’ “Silv is from silver and Era means wind. It looks like the silver inside the stone is being blown around by something, so calling is ‘Silver Wind’ is perfect.” This brought a nod of approval from Alalia. ‘I thought the name was good to start with. So this stone is now the Silvera Stone. Cool, huh?’ “Very,” Stealth replied, grinning. She placed the stone in her pocket and shifted to write something in her notebook. Alalia glanced at it and saw that she had added a heading. “The Silvera Stone” ‘Nice, now,’ she stood up and stretched heartily, ‘let’s go do something. We can come back and look at the stone later. Right now I want to do something. Maybe we can head over to the Training Arena for a while then go to one of the other labs and see if they’ve come up with anything interesting. We might even check on Tel, what do ya say?’ “Sure, why not?” Stealth stood up and stretched as well. She closed the notebook and headed for the door with Alalia at her heels. She heard the door slide shut behind her as she walked purposefully down the hallway towards the Trainer Arena. It wasn’t too far away. She’d get there in five minutes or so if she kept up her pace. She considered her Pokemon and decided that Aronato and Rayten were the two who would appreciate the trainer most. They were also the two Pokemon who had had little or no part in her last mission. She knew Alalia would sulk about this for a while but she would get over it and enjoy herself watching the battle, even if she wouldn’t admit it to her trainer.