Well, I have chapter two now, I plan to fill in some of the gaps come chapter three. Which is where things will get interesting. Again, Reviews/Comments/Constructive Criticism would be appreciated.
Chapter 2
Richard slowly stumbled towards where Tom had made his 'discovery'. The months spent working in the lab had taken it's toll on the both of them, mentally and physically. Tom almost looked like he had never been working at all, his red hair was neat and trim, and he often smiled brightly. But Richard, was near the breaking point. His dark brown hair was growing out in all directions, while dark bags lay underneath his eyes. It was appalling obvious that he hadn't slept well for a long time. He was no better off mentally either. Months of hard work with no end in sight, dead-ends wherever he had gotten hopeful, and Tom, working with Tom was almost maddening.
Tom's earlier enthusiasm for the project had soon turned into an obsession. Whenever one of those dead-ends were reached, Tom would sit and sulk for hours on end, then ordered the start of another. There was no discussion involved with it; Tom would randomly pick another path to go down. He tried to lead by having them grope around in the dark. It was no small wonder that there was no progress being made. The next dead-end would likely be the straw that broke the donkey's back. If this was another wild goose chase, Richard had decided that he would quit Genedy then and there. He would find some other small company in need of a scientist; little was worth this, even for a tolerable man like him.
"Hurry up! I want you to look at this!" Tom yelled, impatient with Richard's sluggish speed.
"Alright," said Richard, having finally reached the desk, began skimming through Tom's hastily written notes. "What is, um, this exactly?"
"This, is what we've been looking for." Tom said excitedly, "I've found it."
Richard, having worked with Tom for the better part of the year, had no difficulty in being skeptical. "Really? I thought we looked at every part of a Pokemon, every aspect of it. We were completely thorough."
"How closely have we looked at the genetic sequence?" Tom said, with an air of smug confidence about him. "See, most scientists think that it has something to do with a part of the brain, or how their brain processes incoming information. The truth is, there's actually a gene that all Pokemon share, deep in their genetic code, and I've found it." Tom said, his voice rising in volume and energy with each word. "That limits their ability to wonder, to simply make a Pokemon simply accept how things are."
"I don't believe any of this, I never should have taken this project in the first place." Richard muttered, as he began gathering his things and walking towards the door. The very idea that something like that was even possible was just the last straw.
"Wait! Hear me out! Every word is true!" Tom sputtered, this just wasn't like Richard, not at all similar to the quiet, nervous man that Tom had met on the first day of the project.
But then, the Richard he had met earlier had been able to do everything at his leisure. The Richard he had met earlier wasn't sleep-deprived or nearly hopeless.
"You've got my attention for five minutes." Richard said, "after that, I leave. There just isn't any reason for me to be here anymore if all we have to go on is guessing."
"Alright, we all know that Pokemon like Alakazam are smarter than the average super-computer, right?" Tom began, receiving a small nod from Richard, who was wondering where Tom was headed.
That gene, like a mental deficiency, is holding it back! It never decides to put its brainpower to use!" Tom said, speaking quickly to make the most of his five minutes. He normally didn't need to make an effort to talk faster than most people did, even when they tried, but the situation certainly wasn't making anything easy.
"Then what about Mewtwo?" Richard asked, referring to the crazed experiment that had decimated a Cinnabar lab before. "That was a big exception."
"Mewtwo was a clone of the original, cloning isn't something that's fully understood yet. They were practically mutilating the original, something had to get lost." Tom replied, not willing to give up the case.
Richard sighed, it all seemed to make sense, he had vented all of his built up frustration, to question things further wouldn't get either of them anywhere. But he was still rather skeptical, Richard thought as an average (though rather quiet) person just as much as he did a scientist. And the average person part of his brain said to trust, but be careful, this was still Tom. He ran his hands through his dirty hair, trying to straighten it out. "Alright, you've got me, for now at least."
The next couple of months were spent on finding the solution to the other problem. Genedy was ecstatic at their findings, but the answer alone wouldn't pay the bills. Though the discovery of the century had decidedly captured the venture capitalist's interest. They still needed a product if they wanted to stay afloat.
The end result proved that Richard Cole and Tom Redding had done what all scientists before them had been unable to do: succeed at solving the mystery. Richard, with the end in sight, had eased back into his more quiet and nervous personality. But Tom had become more anxious and excited than ever. Now all that was left to do was test if it worked.
Which was where the Ratatta's incredible breeding prowess had come in handy. After treatment, the Ratatta showed not only heightened mental perception and memorization. But began to start watching Richard and Cole more intensely, even imitating them at times. Later generations picked up on this habit as well, the results were startling.
"Tom, could you please look at this Ratatta?" Richard said, his eyes wide open, as if in shock.
"So? What's wrong with it? It looks like a normal Ratatta to me." Tom said, "I was expecting something a little more… extraordinary."
"Listen to it!" Richard whispered, pointing at the Ratatta's moving mouth.
Indeed, upon closer inspection, the Ratatta appeared to be trying to speak. But what came out wasn't the usual "Ratatta." No, it was a rough imitation of the English language, nearly the exact words that Richard had said when he asked Tom to look at it. Was it possible that the Ratatta had picked up enough of Richard and Tom speaking to actually be able to learn and repeat English?
For Tom, this meant another confirmation that the soon-to-be-released medicine had worked. Pokemon vocal cords were nearly as developed as the human being's, if not more so. The only thing that had been stopping them from using other methods of communication was the once mysterious mental barrier, which now lay in shambles before the two scientists.
For Richard, the realization horrified him. Pokemon being able to walk, talk, and think like humans was his newfound nightmare. If everything else was basically a human being in another body, then what would the original humans be? Before, when the concept had seemed so distant, the thought had never really occurred to him. But now, with the finish in sight, he saw that humanity was special, different indeed, in their ability to go beyond what the other animals did. Was it really the right thing to do for them to give Pokemon the same qualities that humans had held as their own for so long?
"I'm really beginning to have second thoughts about this," Richard said, the fear evident in his voice. "Is it really the right thing for us to do this?"
"What?" Tom looked as if he was just hit over the head with a mallet. "We've come so far! If we turn back now, think of what'll happen! We're doing everybody a favor here, another discovery for mankind, a way forward for Pokemon. Not to mention the fame and money that we'll receive for being the people to bring this to everybody."
Richard hesitated for a moment, Tom seemed so sure of himself. But then, did he really understand the deeper implications of this, was Tom only trying to keep going out of sheer single-mindedness? "But is this really the right thing to do? Blurring the lines between humanity and Pokemon?"
Tom merely shrugged, "if we don't do it, somebody else will find it, we might as well be the ones who get the credit for things, right? I intend to get paid. Besides, this is still all for the better of humanity, to further understand the world in which we live, right?"
"Maybe, but how good will it really be for humanity in the end?" Richard muttered beneath his ragged breath.
