Chapter #7:

  Jaden soon found himself standing in another room. The room, he noted was rather large,
about the size of a football field by his estimate, but seemed devoid of any other features
except for an observation booth protruding from the right wall. The booth was centered in the
middle of the room and was set a good fifteen feet off the ground. The booth's windows appeared
to be one-way allowing observers to watch everything unfold while maintaining their privacy.

  Turning away from the booth, Jaden spotted Lucario standing silently just off-center
from the observation booth's far side, watching him. As he approached the creature,
Jaden took the opportunity to study the unusual device that several techs had attached
to him just prior to his entry into the room.

  The device itself resembled a fancy metal glove with multi-colored lights that blinked
sporadically all over it. This in turn was attached to an apparatus that reminded Jaden
of the shoulder pads worn by foot ball players.

Another unique feature of the apparatus was that attached to its rear
was a hopper of some sort. Inside the hopper were a number of pokéballs.

  A cable linked a fancy headband to the rest of the assembly while another one
connected the entire thing to a power pack attached to his waist. Jaden wondered
what such a device was used for and why he had it.

“The device you now possess is called a snag machine. Although the device is a prototype, its purpose
 is to capture pokémon whose hearts and minds have been corrupted by evil and henceforth need our help.
 Since these tainted pokémon are difficult to distinguish from normal pokémon by sight the device is able
 to detect the minute aura field that surrounds such creatures.”

“How does that work?” Jaden asked.

“Sensors within the eyepiece have been programmed to detect the tainted aura that surrounds afflicted pokémon
 and ignore everything else. Through the eyepiece, the aura itself will resemble a dark cloud. The eyepiece will
 automatically activate when a tainted pokémon is within range but can also be triggered by pressing the switch
 located on the headband's right side.” Lucario replied.

  With a nod, Jaden pressed the indicated switch and a small screen snapped down
in front of his right eye. Although nothing unusual stood out, Jaden was mesmerized
by the device. As he pressed the switch a second time the screen retracted as quickly
as it had first appeared.

“Now that you've been introduced to the system, the time
 has come to see just how good a trainer you really are.” Lucario said after a pause.

“The first round of the snag trial shall now commence.” a computerized voice spoke up.

Jaden blinked. The voice he'd just heard was identical to that of the voice from his dream.

  The room suddenly transformed into an arena of sorts. The arena itself seemed
eerily familiar to him. Glancing to his right, Jaden saw that the observation booth
had been replaced by a large scoreboard but was keenly aware that the scoreboard
was simply an illusion.

“What's the matter? Does the environment seem familiar to you?” Lucario asked.

Turning back Jaden nodded.

“Memories can be such a mystery.” Lucario remarked amused.

Jaden wrinkled his face in confusion at the statement.

“Combatants will have six minutes in which to battle. Victory shall
 be achieved only when either opponents pokémon is snagged in battle
 or by who is left standing when time is up.” the voice continued.

“But I have no pokémon.” Jaden stammered looking around confused.

“That can easily be remedied.” Lucario replied.

  As if on cue a pokémon began to materialize beside him. Jaden gaped at the creature as it solidified.
It was bipedal, had long muscular legs and slender arms, and was covered in white fur. The pokémon
also had a vividly dark underbelly and tail. The tail was long and thick, bigger around than Jaden's own
arm. Glancing at its face, he couldn't see a mouth. The ears, too, were barely visible.

“Amazing.” he whispered.

He didn't think it was possible that any person would be able to
see or control such a powerful pokémon, much less himself.

  As he continued his inspection, Jaden noted several interesting facts about the pokémon.
For starters, it was a few inches shorter than him. Another thing that stood out was the
creature’s eyes. It had piercing, jade colored eyes. He was also certain that it was female.

“The creature beside you is called a mirage pokémon.” Lucario spoke up.

Jaden cocked an eyebrow.

“Where is the real one?” he asked.

  Lucario merely smirked in reply as it stepped into a fighting pose. The pose
the creature took resembled a fusion of the 'Hapkido' and 'Ninjitsu' fighting styles.
Jaden instantly labeled the fighting pose as 'Pokéjitsu'.

“Show me what you've got, kid.”

“Ok.” Jaden mumbled to himself.

***************

  As she stepped onto the crowded room, Aerithtwo had no idea what to think.
Within the past two hours she'd found herself taken away from the lab she'd been
created in and brought to another. Unlike before however, all the humans she
encountered were wary of her yet seemed open and friendly. As a result she
didn't know how to react.

  Gazing around the room, she noted that a large portion of one wall was made up
of a mirrored window like the one that had been in her old room. Around the window
she saw groups of people staring out. Some of the people were clustered around blinking
consoles while others just stared out the window.

  At the sight of the blinking consoles the word computer came to mind but she wasn't sure
how she knew what the devices were. Among this second group was Alice. As their eyes met,
Aerithtwo felt an incredible sense of elation overtake her. The feeling seemed to be mutual as
Alice smiled and waved her over.

Aerith quickly made her way over, fighting the urge to tackle the woman in a hug as she did so.

“How ya holdin' up kiddo?” Alice asked.

“I'm ok; a little confused is all.”

Alice nodded.

“What's going on?” Aerith asked after a short pause.

“I don't know? I just arrived a short time ago thanks to your little bodyguard there.” Alice replied with a shrug.

  Aerith glanced down and saw the little black bundle of fur that had lead her to the room was now
sitting beside her, smiling cheerfully. Looking up and to the left she saw a cream colored, twin tailed
feline staring at her. The creature nodded silently and Aerith turned her attention to the right.

  As she did so, Aerith spotted the man with the shades standing among a group of
humans she didn't recognize. All of them were huddled around one of the computers
and were staring out the window at something below and mumbling to themselves.

  Following their gaze, she saw a young human and two pokémon.
Neither the human nor the black and blue pokémon she recognized
however, the other pokémon caught her attention.

  The pokémon in question looked a lot like her. Aerith swished
her tail curiously as she watched the battle unfolding below.
Wondering as she did so what was going on.

***************

“Mewtwo, use Psychic and follow up with Shadow Ball!” Jaden snapped
as he struggled to suppress the urge to join the melee.

The creature obeyed without question but Lucario seemed to anticipate the action and nimbly evaded both attacks.

“Not bad, but you're becoming predictable.” Lucario remarked casually.

“Since your current pokémon is a mirage, it's possible to use attacks
 and abilities that the host wouldn't know.” he continued after a pause.

Jaden nodded thoughtfully at the news.

“Mewtwo, use Psybeam, Extreme Speed, and Shock Wave.” he ordered.

  Once more the creature obeyed without question. Like before, Lucario seemed
to anticipate the action and evaded the assault before retaliating with an Aura Sphere
attack at the clone. His response however, seemed slower than it had been previously.

“Quick, dodge and counter with Shadow Ball!”

The clone easily evaded the attack and retaliated, knocking Lucario off his feet.

  With a flick of the wrist, Jaden was pleasantly surprised to find a pokéball
in his hand. Without hesitation he threw it at Lucario but the pokémon easily
dodged the ball as it quickly got to its feet.

“Although you show signs of potential that alone will not be enough.” Lucario remarked.

“Surely you can do better!”

  Jaden shrugged off the comment and the battle continued. A pattern quickly emerged as each
of the combatants struggled to dominate the other. Jaden ordered every possible attack he could
think of, the creature obeying without fail, and hurled pokéballs whenever the opportunity arose.
Lucario meanwhile, continuously dodged the clone's attacks and sporadic stream of pokéballs
and retaliated whenever the opportunity was available.

  As Lucario struck the ground after yet another Shock Wave and Shadow Ball combo
Jaden prepped another pokéball. As he did so, Jaden was completely aware that he had
a limited supply but was unsure of the exact number.

“Well, fifth time's a charm I guess.” he stated before throwing it.

  Unlike previous attempts, this time the pokéball managed to connect
and sucked Lucario inside. After a few tense moments the pokéball
stopped wiggling around and became completely still.

“The first round of the snag trial is now complete.” the computerized voice spoke up.

  Jaden sighed in relief. A moment later, the pokéball reopened and Lucario appeared
relatively unscathed. The pokémon nodded at him and Jaden turned toward the scoreboard.
He noted the time it took him to complete the challenge was just under three and a half minutes.