January 3rd, Unknown Facility – 10:20

  “I found it.”

  The scientist’s voice trembled as she stared at the DNA sequence glowing on her monitor. Across the sterile, neon-lit lab, Supervisor Adams rose from his desk, his polished shoes clicking against the floor. The hum of machinery subsided as the other researchers turned to the screen, their breath held.

  Adams leaned over her shoulder, his reflection warped in the screen’s blue light. The data pulsed—a pattern unlike anything recorded in Pokémon biology. “Three years…” he whispered, then louder, triumphant: “Three years, and we’ve finally done it! The Alpha Gene exists!”

  Cheers erupted across the room. A younger scientist near the bio-containment tanks raised his coffee mug. “Does this mean Hill’s finally giving us that raise?” Subtle laughter echoed, but the woman who’d made the discovery didn’t join in. Her eyes stayed fixed on the gene’s jagged waveform—a pattern that looked less like a breakthrough and more like a warning.

  January 10th, Rustboro City – 9:10

  Sunlight glinted off Devon Corp’s towering headquarters, its glass fa?ade cutting through Rustboro’s modern skyline like a blade. Reporters swarmed the plaza, their cameras trained on the man stepping onto the podium—Duncan Hill, 55, with his silver hair neatly combed to one side, stood tall and confident in a tailored gray suit that fit him like a second skin. His piercing blue eyes seemed to sparkle, reflecting the sunlight that glinted off the glass facade of the towering Devon Corp headquarters behind him. He exuded an air of power and authority, commanding the attention of the reporters surrounding him with his charismatic presence.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” His voice boomed, with warmth and conviction. “Today marks a new dawn for Hoenn! Mr. Stone and I just finished signing the formalities, after weeks of negotiations. The Hill Group is proud to announce its acquisition of Devon Corp—a merger that will revolutionize both Pokémon and Human health and prosperity!”

  The crowd buzzed. A journalist shouted, surprised, “Is this the start of a monopoly, Mr. Hill?” “Devon was your main competitor!” Another: “What about the ongoing lawsuits? Your alleged questionable experiments on Pokémon?”

  Duncan smiled; the practiced kind that never touched his eyes. “Progress requires vision. And trust.” He turned, ignoring the shouts, and strode back into the building.

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  Alone in the elevator, he checked his slick PokéNav+. The message made his pulse spike: “Alpha Gene confirmed. Awaiting instructions.” He typed, ecstatic: “My congratulations! Transport it to Devon, consider it priority number one.”

  Outside, a cloud passed over the sun, casting a shadow over the crowd of restless reporters.

  January 10th, Unknown Mansion – 23:30

  A mansion stood proudly in the open fields, its Paldean arches and polished stone walls masking the rot beneath. A figure in a bone-white theater mask strode down a corridor lined with oil paintings—portraits of forgotten aristocrats. Two aides flanked the figure, tablets glowing in their hands.

  “Rustboro’s team is in position,” said the left aide. “Our hacker’s bypassed Devon’s security. They’re at the loading bay.”

  “Littleroot squad is ready,” added the right. “Birch’s lab is surrounded. Doors go down in five. The rest of the squads in the Region are waiting for your order.”

  The masked figure nodded, silent.

  The corridor opened into a war room—a cathedral of screens mapping Hoenn. Red dots pulsed over Rustboro, Littleroot, Lilycove, Mauville, Mossdeep. Technicians hunched at terminals, faces bathed in static-blue light.

  The figure’s voice boomed, distorted by a vocal modulator: “Today, humanity begins to shed its weakness. Today, we begin to evolve.”

  Applause erupted.

  January 11th, Unknown Mansion – After Midnight

  The reports flicker across my terminal, cold and clinical. As they should be. I lean back in my leather chair and let the words on the screen sear into me.

  Littleroot Lab

  “Target secured. Birch resisted. Pacified quickly with chemicals.”

  Birch, still keeping starters in that ramshackle lab. Did he clutch his precious pokéballs as they broke his door? No matter. His squeals of “Think of the children!” won’t haunt me. The real prize: rare data and Pokémon. Not just bytes on a drive, but genetic maps, neural pathways, fresh examplaries of Hoenn starters. All of it, a treasure trove for our cause.

  Devon Corp

  “Alakazam psychically disassembled Hill’s safe. Gen Alpha files confirmed. Transporting via armored van. No relevant resistance encountered, the security system was easy to hack.”

  A laugh rasps in my throat. The irony tastes exquisite. They think they’ve stolen from Duncan Hill? No. They’ve delivered his life’s work to its rightful architect.

  Secondary Targets – Lilycove, Mauville, Mossdeep

  “Clean sweeps—research notes, prototypes, scientific papers, patents. Resistance neutralized.”

  Beneath the mask, my lips twitch. Neutralized. Subtle. They screamed, of course. Lilycove’s lab chief surely pleaded about “ethical boundaries.” Mauville’s engineer was likely sobbing over her prototypes like an infant.

  Pathetic.

  A chime pulls me back. The terminal glows: “Requesting Approval - Project Unity Launch”

  “Soon, all will see the true nature of Unity."