OOC: WIIIIIIIIISE. WIIIIIIIIIIIISE FWOM YOUW GWAAAAAAAVE! Yes, I know, this took me a metric fuckload of time to respond to, but now it's back and with many new plot-affecting insights that would probably, eventually, maybe, kinda sorta make this RP's plotline end up even better than it was planned originally. Or maybe it'll turn into a three-headed mongoose. ONWARDS!
There was a slight shift in the professor's demeanor in response to Liam's answer - Clearly he noticed that the younger trainer, in spite of his attempt to conceal it behind a brave front, was unimpressed - and rapidly adapted to the situation - the casual scientist seemed to almost straighten up somewhat, almost as though assuming a certain sense of decorum that contrasted with his dramatic introduction.
"Ah, but I apologize." he said - bowing his head down for a second in a way of apology "Sometimes I forget myself when I welcome visitors to my laboratory. I am quite proud of this place, you see - but I shall attempt to contain my enthusiasm - or at least, save it for where it is warranted, non? Bien. Follow me, sil-vous-plait!"
~*~
As the elevator doors opened to the second floor of the facility, Gad found himself almost staring at the differences. Oh, the infrastructure was the same - the blue walls, the painted marble tiles, the marble pillars. But whereas the first floor was filled with fine art, the second floor was all business - schematics and blueprints and whiteboards hung on the walls, the space was smartly laid out with computer desks, devices connected to multitudes of monitors and organized work spaces. There were server rooms with restricted access, complex analytical equipment and contained-space scanners which could be adjusted to various settings. Research assistants in white lab coats were hard at work - and Sycamore greeted them with a brief wave.
"Welcome to the research floor." the scientist said, flicking a hand through his hair "This is where the magic happens! Or at the very least, the science. We have some of the most state-of-the-art analytic hardware and software currently available, and the finest team of researchers to put them into good use. There is quite a bit of data to go through from a myriad of sources - and yet more data comes in every day."
He motioned for the two trainers to follow as he stepped out of the elevator and walked a winding path between desks and apparatus. "Out of curiosity, you are not from this region, are you?" he said, an inquisitive expression on his face. "Mega Evolution is not, shall we say, well known outside of Kalos - how did you come to hear of it?"
"Through my father's line of work, actually." Gad replied, "He did some major research work on Beedrill populations in Hoenn - confirmed the presence of Yakovlev-Kimura sequences in their genome. Was a pretty big deal in the Meta-arthropodology field at the time, but that was a good few years ago."
"Ah, oui! 'Yakovlev-Kimura sequence-gated genomic regions in the Beedrill Line: a possible dormant evolutionary pathway', Van Lierre et al. You're Van Lierre's boy, then? I remember that article - fine work your father did there - a fascinating read! First time Yakovlev-Kimura sequences were comfirmed in such a common species, non?" the professor grinned in response - though was it due to actual interest or due to being able to cite the article to make a favorable impression, Gad was not sure. "And the catalyst for the process... comment ça s'appelle... Beedrillite, was not officially discovered at the time, oui?"
"Not back then, no - I heard they eventually found a few potential specimens, but by that point we've already moved on to the Chargestone Cave survey, and that was the last we've seen of anything with Yakovlev-Kimura sequences in a while. I don't suppose they ever figured out why no Unova-endemic species seem to have those?"
"You'll be surprised! Un moment, s'il vous plaît." the professor grinned brighter as he paused by a currently unmanned computer, logged on and loaded up a program with several open viewports, empty at that moment, and pointing at the monitor for the benefit of his guests "If you may look to the screen. This is a very recent discovery, mind, so what you are about to see is a projection based on partial data - one of my teams is still analyzing the rest - but it appears that that the search for Mega-Evolving species in Unova may have bore fruit at last - and from quite the unexpected source, if I may add!"
With a few brief points and clicks, the viewports filled up. There was a tree view, a view showing a long string of DNA, and a rotating 3D model, such as the one found in Pokédexes, of a bipedal creature - blue-eyed and covered in pink-and-cream fur, with strange large ears tipped with a curled tendril each. Gad recognized it in an instant - though the Professor was not one to assume his entire audience did.
"What you are looking at is Audino, the Hearing Pokémon. They can be found in small numbers all over Unova and are prized in the medical field for their diagnostic skills and their ability to heal injured Pokémon using a special energy pulse." the Professor nodded, moving his mouse cursor to the string of DNA and quickly issued a series of clicks and actions - highlighting a few specific segments while marking others as though they were programming commands. "Now these are Yakovlev-Kimura sequences - normally, they block the transcription and expression of the genomic regions that follow them. But should they be activated - and this takes a great deal of energy, mind - a process similar to evolution occurs - et... voilà!"
The professor hit a button and an animation took place as the program ran through lines of code - and the figure on the screen began to change - the creature on the screen growing slightly in size, its ears perking up, its fur growing longer and changing in color from muted pink to a brilliant white, while its blue eyes took on a red hue. By the time the process stopped the creature took on an almost angelic quality - and simulation or not, something about it seemed to radiate power.
"But it is not only the appearance that changes - non, Mega Evolution brings changes across the board. The Pokémon's power is boosted significantly, and sometimes, it may change its type and ability as well - this one in particular appears to take on traits of the Fairy-type alongside its regular Normal type. We are still working on quantifying the changes in its strengths and weaknesses - all we have at the moment is projections derived from second-hand data with a small population size, which makes the process a bit less... accurate than we would hope - but the fact this possibility exists... why, it may revolutionize the medical community!" the professor seemed to be truly excited now - but then, his expression shifted again, taking on a more sombre look.
"Or so it would have been, if the catalysts for this evolution were not so prohibitively rare..." he said "And if charging a Pokémon with the amount of energy required to express these genomic regions was not so dangerous. A Pokémon that is not prepared to contain so much power can experience a réaction très négative - it can be overwhelming, even after the energy source is removed and the changes brought upon by Mega Evolution to harness this power are re-absorbed into the Pokémon's body. Mega Evolution, alors, is a path that should not be walked into blindly nor carelessly - without a very skilled trainer who has a strong bond of trust with their Pokémon to share the neural load - to call the Pokémon back from being consumed by the power... why, the results could be catastrophique!"
The professor closed his eyes, clearly troubled by something for a moment, before shutting the program on the computer down, shaking his head and giving a half-smile. "Still, science marches on. Perhaps one day that bridge may be safely crossed as well. Well, no use standing around here - there is more of the research floor to see!"
~*~
With the two trainers in tow, the professor approached a few of the contained-space scanners, which appeared to hold palm-sized translucent crystals with a multicolored helical core that seemed to be glowing with its own inner power. Probes mounted on robotic tendrils revolved around the stones on occasion, transmitting data processed into a graph on a monitor by each unit, data from each stone marked in a different color and presenting an oscillating pattern rising and falling in their own unique frequency and amplitude.
"Mega Stones!" the professor nodded "These particular specimens were kindly loaned to us by the fine folks at the Devon Corporation of Hoenn - and we've been monitoring their energy readouts ever since they came here - trying to understand what connects each type of stone to the species that can harness its power to Mega Evolve. Of course, to truly release the amount of raw energy these stones contain, resonance with a Key Stone is required - and we have not been able to acquire a sample as of yet-"
"Professor Sycamore, sir?" said a meek voice suddenly, cutting off the scientist's words. The professor whipped his head in the direction of the voice - definitely for the hair sparkle, Gad thought - to find a young research assistant in a lab coat who proceeded to hand him a tablet. "Pardon the interruption, Professor, but we've concluded the investigation into the data from yesterday's incident - thought you might want to take a look."
"Ah, splendide. Merci beaucoup! Keep up the good work." the professor flashed the assistant a winning smile, and turned his eyes to survey the information on the tablet - brow furrowing as his eyes darted from row to row, the jovial expression that usually covered his face seeming to drain by the moment.
"As I feared." he murmured, turning his eyes back to the two trainers, all showmanship gone from his voice. "Medical data and testimonials from the Kalos Power Company's internal medical facilities. I don't suppose you've watched the news yesterday?"
"The freak storm at the power plant? We've actually seen it for ourselves when we crossed the badlands. From a distance, but still." Gad nodded "They said it was a rampaging Pokémon, but never said what it was."
"And they would not for a while." the Professor shook his head "It was the power of Mega Evolution at work, without proper control. It appears that our rampaging Pokémon was a Mega-evolved Ampharos gone wild, and that the security team that eventually contained it very nearly failed to do so, even with the advantages of numbers and types on their side."
"It was that powerful?" Gad blinked. Wild Pokémon could be powerful and fierce, but one Pokémon against multiple opponents, presumably trained specifically to handle them?
"The innate power of Mega Evolutions is great, but it was only one factor here. The creature was out of control and attempting to expel the excess energy running through it by any means necessary. But the location! Its body kept drawing more power from its environment the more power it tried to release. A loop." The professor nodded. "Au naturellement, the security team had protocol for an Electric Pokémon attack - a combined team of Electric-types with the Lightning Rod ability to siphon electric attacks into themselves and Ground-types with the capability to deal super-effective damage. Against any other electric-type, that might have proven more effective. But a Mega Evolution, and one which breaks the mold? The Electric-types were actually hurt by drawing so much electricity into themselves, and as for the Ground-types... Their injury profiles appear to consistent with Dragon-type moves."
He paused.
"Apparently, the thing was aglow with power - they could not tell what they were actually facing until they somehow knocked it out - and the Mega Evolution reverted itself. It was taken into the power plant's facilities to be treated, but apparently it is still yet to awaken. Its medical data shows some pretty extensive internal damage - it will take a while to recover, even with medical attention."
"Something doesn't add up here - where was the trainer in all this? Wild Pokémon don't just up and Mega Evolve naturally - and for that matter, what happened to the Mega Stone?" Gad tilted his head to the side - and the professor shrugged.
"This is where it becomes even more of a mystère - no tresspassing trainers were anywhere to be found in the area - though it is possible they fled the scene. As for the Ampharosite - why, it is right there." Sycamore motioned to one of the scanners - in which rested a white stone, its helical core a swirl of reds, oranges and yellows and its inner glow not quite as bright as that of the stones in the other scanners nearby. The oscillation pattern on this one seemed to be wild, almost random, prone to high energy spikes followed by a great deal of noise. The professor appeared puzzled for a moment, shooting a glance to a few other monitors before returning to this one.
"And something about this one is different from the others - far beyond the usual levels of variance. It may be because it has been used recently, but it is too early to say - and I have already taken up enough of your time. I believe it is time I presented you with what you came here for to begin with."
~*~
Finally, the professor took the two trainers to a fairly impressive wall-mounted cabinet - with impressive looking wooden paneling covering its doors - and placed a finger on a thumbprint lock nestled in the center of a Pokéball carving. The lock clicked and opened with a hiss, revealing a metallic interior lined with shelves, various tools meticulously arranged on them. From one of the shelves, the Professor fished out two rectangular devices. Each of the devices consisted of a glass touchscreen protected by a two-piece sliding cover with rounded edges, a Pokéball-frame-themed design etched into it.
"There you go - for you, Monsieur Gad. And you, Monsieur Liam." the Professor handed the devices to the trainers "Once you set it up for first use - register your trainer ID and configure whatever preferences you have for it, the works - all you have to do when you encounter a Pokémon you wish to learn more about is simply point the device at it and touch the button on the screen. The cover will open, the scanners will identify the Pokémon - et voilà! All the information you may need, at your fingertips. Simple, elegant, très effective. Now, then, do either of you have any questions before I send you off on your great adventure with your Pokémon and your new Pokédexes?"
