The emergency skiff cut through the jagged waves of the Cinnabar coast, its engine muffled by a specialized suppressor Data-Zero had integrated into the craft's cooling system. Behind Zeth, the massive black spire of the League Annex stood like a tombstone against the moonlight.
Smoke was already beginning to curl from the lower vents—Lance had wasted no time. The "system malfunction" was likely a thermal overload in the Project Chimera servers.
Zeth slumped against the steering column, his right arm twitching. The violet veins of the Primal Spark were stark against his blackened skin, pulsing in time with the ocean's rhythm.
[Warning: Neural Sync at 12%,] Data-Zero's digital pulse echoed in his mind. [Biological feedback from the suppression has caused micro-tears in your muscle tissue. You require specialized stabilization. Standard Kanto medicine will not recognize the 'Gate-Rot' in your marrow.]
"I know," Zeth rasped, steering the skiff toward the dark, unmapped cliffs of the southern mainland. "We aren't going to a hospital. We're going to the Black-Glass Bazaar."
The Bazaar wasn't a place on a map; it was a mobile fleet of decommissioned tankers and cargo ships anchored in the "Dead-Zone" between Cinnabar and Fuchsia City. It was the only place where Team Rocket, rogue League scientists, and Gate-scavengers traded without the prying eyes of the Indigo Plateau.
As the skiff approached the rusted hull of the lead ship, the Gorgon, two Magneton descended from the deck, their magnets hummed with a warning frequency.
"State your business or sink," a voice crackled over a loudspeaker.
Zeth didn't speak. He reached into his vest and pulled out a jagged, purple-tinted shard of Silicon-Fiber Silk he'd kept from the Warden's chamber. He held it up to the spotlight.
The Magneton paused. The Silicon-Fiber was the currency of the brave—or the desperate.
"Lower the lift," the voice commanded, sounding significantly more interested. "And tell the boy to keep his hands where the Arcanine can see them."
The deck of the Gorgon was a chaotic sprawl of neon lights, the smell of ozone, and the low growls of Pokémon that didn't belong in the Kanto pokedex. Merchants sat behind lead-lined glass, selling everything from illegal evolution stones to "hacked" Pokedexes.
Zeth walked through the crowd, his hood pulled low. He could feel the eyes of the Bazaar's enforcers on him, but the Primal Spark in his arm acted like a natural deterrent—he radiated the "scent" of a high-tier Gate, and in this world, that meant he was either a predator or a corpse not worth touching.
He stopped at a stall draped in heavy, light-dampening curtains. An old man with a mechanical eye sat behind a workbench, meticulously cleaning a set of surgical scalpels.
"I need a stabilizer for a Lunar-form metabolism," Zeth said, placing a handful of Gate-crystals on the counter. "And a neural-mesh for a Spark-burn."
The old man didn't look up. "Lunar-form food is rare. Requires Stardust infused with Shadow-Marrow. Very expensive. As for the arm... that's not a burn. That's a dimensional anchor trying to eat your nervous system."
The man finally looked up, his mechanical eye whirring as it scanned Zeth. "You're the one who walked out of the Iron-Link Ravine. The League says your Bagon died."
"The League says a lot of things," Zeth replied coldly.
"I have the food for your Charmeleon," the merchant whispered, reaching under the counter for a jar of shimmering, obsidian-black pellets. "And the mesh. But I don't want your crystals. I want a copy of the Warden's Data-Log. I know you have it. No Trainee kills a Gold-tier Magnezone without a digital record."
Zeth felt Data-Zero stiffen in his mind. The Warden's log contained the blueprints for the magnetic fields used to stabilize Gates. In the wrong hands, it could be used to force-open rifts in the middle of a city.
"Give him the corrupted version," Zeth thought to Data-Zero. "The one with the League's 'Project Chimera' signatures embedded in the metadata. If he sells it, the League will track it back to their own secret labs."
[Processing... Corruption complete. Sending encrypted packet.]
Zeth slid a small data-chip across the counter. The merchant grabbed it, his mechanical eye flashing green as he verified the header.
"Pleasure doing business, 'Captain,'" the man grinned, sliding a heavy medical kit and three jars of Lunar-feed toward Zeth. "A word of advice: Lance is already moving. He didn't just 'let you go.' He let you out so you could lead him to the rest of the survivors who know too much. You aren't a ghost yet. You're just a very loud signal."
Zeth retreated to a secluded corner of the lower decks, away from the prying eyes of the traders. He released the Lunar Charmeleon.
The Pokémon emerged, its scales a pale, ghostly white, its eyes glowing with a cold, blue fire. It hissed, its body trembling from the lack of "Lunar" energy in the natural world. Zeth opened the jar of Shadow-Marrow pellets.
The Charmeleon ate with a feral desperation, its form stabilizing as the dark energy reinforced its mutation. It let out a low, satisfied puff of cold mist, its tail-flame turning a sharp, electric violet.
Next, Zeth pulled out the Black-tier Bagon. The neon-green Dragon stretched, its scales clicking like armor. It looked at Zeth's blackened arm and let out a soft, mourning growl.
"I'm fine," Zeth whispered, sitting back against the rusted bulkhead as he began to wrap the neural-mesh around his arm. The mesh hummed, drawing the excess violet energy of the Spark away from his skin and storing it in a small capacitor. "We have the food. We have the gear. Now, we just need to disappear before the Dragon-Master finds us."
[Warning,] Data-Zero pulsed suddenly. [I have intercepted a high-priority transmission from the Cinnabar Spire. Subject: 'Zeth'. Search Radius: Expanding. They aren't looking for a survivor. They've classified you as an 'Unregistered S-Rank Threat.']
Zeth looked at his team—a Lunar monster and a Black-tier Dragon. He wasn't a Trainee anymore. He was the most wanted boy in Kanto.
"Good," Zeth said, his eyes flashing with cold resolve. "Let them look. By the time they find me, I'll be too big to contain."
The Black-Glass Bazaar had been a necessary risk, but staying there was a death sentence. By dawn, Zeth had abandoned the skiff and moved inland, bypassing the main routes to Fuchsia City. With the League classifying him as an S-Rank Threat, the "Trainee" mask was officially shattered.
[System Optimization Complete]
[Data-Zero Integration: 100%]
[Syncing Full Active Roster... All Signatures Verified]
Zeth's vision swam for a moment as Data-Zero pushed the full tactical readouts directly into his retinas. "Show me everything," Zeth muttered, stepping into the humid, overgrown perimeter of the Safari Zone.
------------------------------------
Houndoom
Level: 42 (Senior)
Potential: Dark Blue / Light Purple (Elite Potential)
Ability: Early Bird (Unlocked) | Mastery: 65% (Alertness and recovery speed significantly heightened).
Learned Moves: Ember, Howl, Smog, Roar, Bite, Taunt, Beat Up, Fire Fang, Feint Attack, Foul Play
TM Moves: Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Will-O-Wisp
-------------
Level: 26 (Basic)
Potential: Blue (Advanced Potential)
Ability: Blaze (Unlocked) | Mastery: 42% (Fire potency increases as stamina drops).
Mutation: Lunar Veil (Active) | Inherent trait of the Lunar Form.
Learned Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath, Fire Fang, Slash
TM Moves: Shadow Claw, Will-O-Wisp, Aerial Ace
---------------
Bagon (Shiny)
Level: 22 (Basic)
Potential: Dark Purple / Light Gold (Elite 4 / Champion Potential)
Dual-Ability Trait: 1/30,000 Rarity.
Abilities:
Rock Head (Unlocked) | Mastery: 35% (Reduces recoil from physical impacts).
Sheer Force (Unlocked) | Mastery: 28% (Trades secondary effects for raw power).
Learned Moves: Ember, Leer, Bite, Dragon Breath, Focus Energy, Headbutt
TM Moves: Dragon Dance, Fire Fang, Brick Break
----------------
Level: 30 (Advanced)
Potential: Blue (Advanced Potential)
Dual-Ability Trait: 1/30,000 Rarity.
Abilities:
Anticipation (Unlocked) | Mastery: 50% (Dodge reflex against lethal moves).
Poison Touch (Unlocked) | Mastery: 48% (Percentage chance to poison on contact).
Learned Moves: Astonish, Mud-Slap, Poison Sting, Taunt, Pursuit, Feint Attack, Revenge, Swagger, Mud Bomb
TM Moves: Poison Jab, Drain Punch
---------------------
Rhyhorn
Level: 35 (Advanced)
Potential: Blue (Advanced Potential)
Ability: Lightning Rod (Unlocked) | Mastery: 55% (Electrical absorption and redirection).
Learned Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Smack Down, Bulldoze, Horn Attack, Scary Face, Stomp, Rock Blast
TM Moves: Earthquake, Stone Edge
------------------
Shellder
Level: 18 (Basic)
Potential: Dark Green (High-Tier Basic Potential)
Ability: Skill Link (LOCKED) | Trial Required.
Learned Moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Withdraw, Supersonic, Icicle Spear
TM Moves: Ice Beam, Protect
-------------------------
The air in the Safari Zone smelled of ozone and industrial chemicals. Zeth ducked behind a massive Baobab tree as Data-Zero highlighted several tactical signatures in the clearing ahead.
"They're herding mutants," Zeth whispered. "Data-Zero, jam their comms. I don't want a single signal leaving this sector."
[Comms Jammed. Local Blackout Initiated.]
Zeth stepped out from the shadows, his blackened arm glowing with the violet light of the Primal Spark. The Shiny Bagon walked at his side, its neon-green scales humming. Even at Level 22, its Light Gold potential and dual-unlocked abilities radiated a pressure that forced the mercenary Pokémon into a state of panic.
"You're a long way from a League lab, kid," the lead mercenary sneered, signaling his men. "And that's a lot of high-potential hardware for a dead man to be carrying."
"I'm not the one who's dying today," Zeth said, his voice dropping into the lethal tone of Cain. "Croagunk, drop the scouts. Bagon, Dragon Dance. Charmeleon, use the shadows. Shadow Claw on the technicians."
The clearing erupted. Croagunk blurred, its Anticipation mastery allowing it to weave through a hail of bullets as its glowing purple fingers delivered a 48% Mastery Poison Touch to the pressure points of the mercenaries.
The Bagon began its rhythmic war-dance, its Sheer Force beginning to crackle around its claws, preparing to turn the Safari Zone into a graveyard for anyone wearing a Rocket vest.