Chapter 54 - Variant

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A guard at the tunnel entrance confirms my appointment before raising the security bar. Jane is practically vibrating in her seat after Naomi confirmed we'd be able to watch the world's match in person.

"The submersibles used here are actually one of my father's designs," The young heiress reluctantly brags.

Lacy is less than thrilled, "So were going a mile under water?"

I'm trying very hard not to laugh, "Yes."

As we enter the tunnel we can see the sandy beach beneath us, the road is transparent glass.

"In a bubble like this?"

"Yup," glancing back out of the corner of my eye, she's choosing to look at the sky.

A deep exhale, "Near a battle between some of the most powerful pokemon known to the public?"

Jane sings, "That's the big idea!"

"Not helping," I flick Jane hard in the ribs.

"Youch!" the punk rubs her side, "Hey Doc, there's nothing saying you gotta come with us if it makes you that uncomfortable."

"She's right," Looking at my fiancé's face in the mirror, "You can tour the lab while we're down there?"

Lacy closes her eyes and takes one more deep breath before finally taking in the mind blowing sight of the space age laboratory just ahead of us, "No, we talked about this. I'm done hiding in my house from the world as it is."

The tunnel ends by merging into what must be a massive roundabout that circles the entire atrium of the facility. Smaller electric cars dart about as people in lab coats transit from one area to the next. Just ahead however is a pull over zone and a front desk just like a hotel lobby.

Calls of bird pokemon and more jungle residents like the ones we encountered on our way here fill the high glass, domed ceiling. Enough plants line the road and walls to put any botanical garden to shame. A rainbow of tropical flowers bloom from boxes framing the receptionist's window.

A dark skinned man with an impressive grey afro greets us, "Good morning, welcome to the Alola National Laboratory, can I get your names and reason for visit?"

Did no one…. Ya know I'm gonna be a mȧturė ȧduŀt… hopefully.

"Pfft," Jane snort whispers, "Kurt, we're visiting AN,"

My hand covers her face, "Yes I'm Kurt from the Hoenn lab visiting in regards to the regional type variance study."

Afro dude just raises a brow at the dumb teenager, "Riiight, they actually just called to see if you were here yet. Take these passes and head to terminal three and down one floor, look for the iceberg."

While affixing our tags, Naomi approaches the counter, "We also have passes for the battle today under Wattson."

That gets some genuine surprise, "Look at that, you do, Lucky! So the match is in two hours, just head back to terminal two after you're done in three."

Hopping back in the car I can't help but glare at Jane, "Kid… just hold it in till you're back in the car next time."

Lacy has a cheshire grin, "yes, now you can tell us all about your enthusiasm for the ANL."

Naomi tilts her head, "You know about this lab Jane?"

Facepalming I check my mirrors before pulling the jeep back onto the road. Terminal three appears to be the wing opposite the lab entrance on the large roundabout. Meanwhile the teen next to me is officially red from the neck up.

Lacy checks Naomi's bandages. "One of these is going to need stitches, young lady. I'll fix it up while Kurt lets the white coats see Rusty."

We pull over again and hop out. A Treeko is lounging in a flower box next to the escalators heading down.

"I'm starting to think all the labs are like this?"

Naomi points ahead at what looks like an arctic exhibit in a zoo, "Well, you can't study pokemon without pokemon."

A massive fake Iceberg sits in the middle of another domed laboratory...I think it's fake? Either way it's mostly hollow by the looks of the big cave caved out of it. I can see the Alolan variant of Sandslash and Sandshrews putting about the ice and snow. Also present are Alolan Vulpix and Ninetails, as well as a relaxing Dewgong. Actually it seems there are a couple ice types from other regions such as Amaura, Bergmite and Cubchoo.

"Ah," A woman with deep violet hair and a pair of converse chucks under her lab coat dashes our way, "You must be Kurt right?!"

Nodding, we gather up next to the iceberg as she shakes my hand, "I'm Sina, lead researcher here in the Snow Terminal. I can't tell you how excited we've been for your Sandshrew today."

"Why wait any longer then?" I open Rusty's ball.

The little guy has grown a bit already, almost reaching my knees. His rust colored plates shift as he stretches out, showing off his ash grey belly fur.

"Oh, he's adorable," Sina crouches down, "Hi buddy, how ya feeling?"

"Shrew?" he chirps with a tilt of his head.

A couple other lab folk walk over and one even takes a picture.

Before my little guy balls up in nervousness I cough, "I'm sure you wanted to look at him with some proper equipment?" giving the intern with a phone out a stare.

"Ahe...he, um," she swats at the intern, "Go double check exam room four, if one of you runts snuck in for lunch again you'll be camping on the iceberg tonight!"

I hear the sound of heels clicking tiles behind us, a husky woman's voice, "What's going on over here?"

Sina waves towards the new arrival, "Kurt brought the Sandshrew I mentioned earlier. Kurt, this is Goh. She's challenging Director Burnet today."

This world level trainer bȧrėly comes up to my shoulder in height. She's wearing black motorcycle leathers with purple highlights. It matches her dark tan skin and purple makeup along with the neon violet highlights on the shaved side of her hair.

My mind can't help but wonder why I never heard of a pokemon game based in a region with a black majority. This gal is clearly half black, half Asian in terms of earth.

"We're actually going to watch your battle after this."

"Well, hopefully I put on a good show." she crouches down to check out Rusty, "You know if labs keep coming up with variants I'm never gonna…" she goes silent with a sigh.

The intern comes back, "The examination room is ready."

Lacy cuts in, "Actually do you have a medical room in this wing? I need to stitch up Miss Wattson here."

Sina whips her head towards Naomi so fast I'm sure it hurt, "Of course, are you alright?! We have a full hospital in the first terminal but there is a first aid station here if that's all you need."

Doc Cutter waves her hand, "it was just a Trumbeak seed, I'll fix it right up with a needle and thread."

Naomi pouts, "Can't it wait? I was going to ask about those Vulpix."

Goh smiles at that, looking back while petting Rusty, "You need to be in top shape to be a top trainer. I actually have an Alolan Vulpix pup, we can talk about trading once you're stitched up."

"We're just going to do a standard physical and aura scan to make sure everything is stable and see how Rusty compares to our local Sandshrew," Sina checks her watch, "We'll be done in about thirty minutes."

After ȧssuring Rusty enough to let him be carried away, albeit balled up, we take a seat back by the chilly iceberg exhibit. Something is nagging at the back of my mind but I'm not sure what it is.

Fortunately Jane seems up to date on the top trainers, "Miss Goh, what was the biggest difference in your home dimension if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's fine." She laughs, "Honestly, the biggest shock was meeting myself."

"Ah," my teen disaster partner lowers her head, "Sorry, at least you got to meet him before he went missing?"

"It's okay," the walking cyberpunk gal looks at the many ice pokemon, "I think he's still out chasing his dreams somewhere."

"Kurt is from another dimension too!"

My head whips towards the train wreck redhead that just blew my secret as an attempt to cheer up the woman in tight leather pants.

I smack her upside the head, "Thanks Red. That intern got yelled at a bit ago, why don't you cheer her up by spilling all of Naomi's secrets?"

Goh arches her brow, "I don't think it's worth keeping secret. Ultra space wormholes have been occurring in this version of Alola for decades. I was actually in Kalos when I got suċkėd up and spit out here seven years ago."

Rubbing the scruff on my chin in exasperation, "Fine, whatever," thinking quickly, "I was in Unova."

Jane can no longer hold back, "Are you excited for your match today?!"

The pro trainer smirks, "I've done my homework, I think I'll have a sizable advantage."

I really don't feel like sitting around while the teenager goes all fan girl.

Standing up, "I'm gonna check on Lacy and the princess."

Jane waves me off while Goh gives me a knowing smirk.

Tracing back where I saw the intern leading them, I find Lacy finishing up with the hole in the arm of a quietly tearing up Naomi.

The young girl hops off the table and runs over beside me before stopping. I can see emotions warring with upbringing in her glossy green eyes.

"Come here kid," I sigh as she nearly jumps into my arms. It's easy to forget she's only thirteen sometimes.

I ruffle her hair a little, "Go clean up, you were about to negotiate yourself an ice fox."

Sniffles and mumbles, and she's off to the bathroom.

Lacy walks over from washing her hands, "Dad mode engaged huh?"

Matching her teasing smile, "Wanna make it full time?"

Her hands wander towards my ċhėst, "As long as you stop checking out every female pro you meet."

Huh? Oh, "No haha, I was confused because of the whole dimensional variance thing."

A suspicious brow, yet her hand drifts down, "Sure, that sounds like a fancy enough excuse." She flicks my dɨċk with a vengeance, "Let's go make sure your pokemon isn't freaking out."

On one hand, it's nice to have her feeling jealous over me, I won't lie. But that really hurt.

Rusty is doing just fine. In fact, he's pestering the intern for more of whatever is in the bottle she's trying to use to get him in position for what looks like a dental x-ray machine.

Sina is reviewing a monitor showing, well, a live x-ray.

"Everything connected how it's supposed to?"

The energetic researcher jumps a bit, "Jeez, give a girl a heart attack why don't you."

Lacy snorts, "I'd save ya."

"I'm sure, but anyway, yes. In fact, your Sandshrew has more bone density than the local Sandshrew. Which I'm sure contributes to him being heavier overall." she looks back at the exam table and her struggling ȧssistant, "We're done with the x ray Jen. Use a brush to take some scale dust samples."

The poor girl looks at the bottle in her hands and the brush on the table and then back to the Sandshrew clawing at her sleeve.

"I got it," I walk over and pull rust away and take the bottle. It smells like honey and milk.

Lacy sits next to me, "It's probably soy milk mixed with Combee honey."

My little Sandshrew cheerily sucks at the bottle in my ŀȧp while Intern Jen walks over with a sample bag and a thick bristle brush.

It's another twenty minutes of ȧssorted tests, sampling and other examinations before we wrap up. Time to meet back up with Jane and Goh.

We find Naomi playing with a spiky furred, white Vulpix.

I hear Goh talking excitedly on the phone with someone while looking at a Wattson business card, "Black carbon fiber for the fairings and panels. Something super comfy and purple for the seat. Can you put neon in the rims?"

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