Pokémon: Virus Evolution

The Pokémon by the stream were, of course, the ones that had escaped earlier from the Syndicate base on the southern outskirts of Cerulean City.

These Pokémon had suffered at the hands of humans. Out of fear and distrust, they avoided the city and instead fled south into the wild.

After running for a while, they had stopped by the stream to rest.

Treecko took a sip of water, feeling a newfound strength coursing through its body. After healing from its nighttime injuries and enduring the intense battle, it realized that it had grown far stronger than before—at a much faster rate than it ever did when training alongside its Trainer at Gym battles.

Glancing at the other Pokémon that had escaped with it, Treecko could see the exhaustion and scars left by long-term captivity and the fierce fight for freedom. But finally, they were free. That alone made everything worth it.

Regardless of whether they had once belonged to Trainers, from today onward, they were wild Pokémon.

Suddenly, there was movement in the nearby bushes.

The Pokémon tensed up, their eyes locked on the source of the disturbance.

Moments later, a Bayleef cautiously stepped out.

"Baay~" Bayleef called out warmly, greeting them with a friendly voice.

Realizing it wasn't a pursuer, the Pokémon collectively let out a sigh of relief.

"Treeck!" Treecko stepped forward and called out, asking Bayleef its intentions. Among the escapees, it was one of the more intelligent ones, and it could tell—this Bayleef wasn't a wild Pokémon.

After some exchanges between the two Pokémon, Treecko gradually lowered its guard, and soon, Gold and Lyra emerged from the foliage.

...

[Congratulations, host. You have completed the task 'Infect more than 20 lifeforms.' Unlocking the new ability: 'Waterborne Transmission.']

Lucius' task was complete, and Ability 3 had been updated:

The infected can now spread the virus through bodily fluids.

The virus can now be transmitted through water sources.

It seemed like the system was accelerating the spread of the virus...

Lucius glanced at the mission list again. The new task had changed to:

"Kill 50 lifeforms." (Progress: 5/50).

He sucked in a sharp breath.

So soon?

As a virus, he had long expected this day to come. After all, he had already poisoned Mike and Nanwu before. But to have murder appear as a cold, hard mission objective still caught him off guard.

And judging by the progress bar, this mission counted only humans and Pokémon—ordinary animals didn't even qualify as "lifeforms" in the system's eyes.

'System, what happens if I don't complete the task?'

[No penalty.]

That answer didn't put Lucius at ease. In fact, it only made him more suspicious.

That was not how this system usually operated...

...

"Achoo—" Sina sneezed, rubbing his reddened nose. "Once we move this last crate, we're basically done. As soon as Team A loads the cargo onto the truck, we can leave this place forever."

He sighed. But just as he was about to lift another box, a commotion erupted outside.

"Attention, all units! Unknown intruders detected in Area A! Prepare for combat immediately!"

"Repeat—Unknown intruders detected in Area A! Engage at once!"

The urgent orders came through the radios of everyone present. Workers immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed toward Area A.

"Shit! What's with today? Area B's cargo escaped, and now we've got an invasion in Area A?!" Sina cursed under his breath, releasing his Pokémon as he sprinted toward the area.

"Quilava, use Flamethrower!"

A searing column of fire shot through the air, instantly raising the temperature in Area A. Flammable objects ignited with loud pops and crackles, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

"Damn it, someone's hijacking the cargo! Seviper, use Sludge Bomb!"

A black-and-blue, venomous serpent with two long, blood-red fangs let out a piercing hiss. It lashed its razor-edged tail, hurling foul-smelling sludge through the air. The attack forced Quilava to retreat, and some of the burning objects were doused in the process.

"Houndour, use Roar!"

A black, wolf-like Pokémon opened its jaws and let out an ear-splitting howl. Though Quilava wasn't physically harmed, the strange energy from the attack instinctively forced it to back away.

Amid the chaos, a crimson blur streaked across the battlefield.

With a rapid "clang-clang-clang," the steel bars of an entire row of cages were sliced apart.

"Nicely done, Scizor!" a young girl's voice rang out.

As the cages shattered, the imprisoned Pokémon burst free at once.

"You really think setting them loose will help you escape?" The Area A supervisor sneered.

He had already assessed the situation—these so-called "intruders" were nothing more than two teenagers. The freed Pokémon had been locked up for so long—starved and weakened—they had barely any strength to fight.

"Team A, capture the brats! Team B, hold the passageway! No cargo leaves this base!"

The Syndicate members quickly moved into formation, blocking all possible escape routes.

As a Team B member, Sina immediately took position at the passageway entrance.

Wait a second… these characters…

Through Sina's eyes, Lucius caught sight of the boy and girl surrounded in the battlefield.

And he instantly widened his non-existent eyes.

Holy crap. These two… they're from the original games.

Pokémon had been one of the biggest franchises back in his past life—an absolute juggernaut from Japan that had lasted over 20 years. It had gone by many names: Pokémon, Pocket Monsters, Pokémon Adventures, even Pet Monsters—spawning countless games, anime, movies, and an expansive worldbuilding universe.

It had created some of the most beloved characters—from anime icons like Ash and Pikachu to the infamous Team Rocket trio.

But Ash wasn't the only protagonist in this world.

In this vast multiverse, there were many who carried the mantle of fate.

Including these two.

Man… how many times had I used you guys to clear HeartGold and SoulSilver back in the day?

To me, you guys were me in that world.

…Hmm. I wonder if I could take your bodies? Would plot armor transfer to me as well?

Completely oblivious to the horrifying entity now eyeing them, Gold and Lyra remained fully focused on their battle.

'These smugglers aren't that strong individually, but there's too many of them. If we get surrounded, it'll be bad…' Gold thought grimly as he issued commands.

After discovering the Hoenn Pokémon by the stream earlier, he had sensed something was wrong. With the help of Togetic's abilities, they uncovered the presence of an illegal Pokémon smuggling operation.

Fueled by their unwavering sense of justice, they infiltrated the base. Relying on their small size and a fair bit of luck, they managed to reach Area A, where the captured Pokémon were held.

Although they had already called the police, the smugglers were preparing to abandon the base, intending to ship the Pokémon out immediately.

Seeing no time to wait, the two decided to act on their own, freeing the Pokémon in hopes of stalling until help arrived.

They hadn't expected reinforcements at this base to arrive so quickly. Although they had already freed the Pokémon from their cages, most of them were in no condition to fight. Instead, they had to divert their attention to protecting the weakened Pokémon during battle. As a result, they were now completely surrounded.

The situation was far from ideal, but Gold remained calm. There was no need to defeat everyone—he only had to carve out a path to escape.

Right now, he was commanding his Pokémon: Exbo, his Quilava; Togebo, his Togetic; and Aibo, his Aipom.

Meanwhile, Lyra was giving orders to her Bayleef, Scizor, and Misdreavous.

With three Pokémon each under their command, they were already pushing their limits in battle.

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TL/N:

Gold is Ethan in games, I think.

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