The Gifted

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Nice! It's like Heroes (avant la lettre, apparently) gone Pokémon! I'd really like to see more of this!

So, either it's coincidental that 4 people gather and all have certain special abilities, or there's something more going on.
And like how the A&O get those powers? Did they emerge suddenly? Has it something to do with the events of Pokémon Heroes?
And how come the "Bug"-type man knew Brick Break? Do their powers not only come from a Pokémon type, but from an actual Pokémon, like Heracross?
How could some other Pokémon types be handled by man, like Steel, for instance? Are these special people "benders", like in Avatar?
Hmm, already a good pack of questions (not that I expect any answers soon)! A good mystery indeed.

[TheHornyBug]

Nice! It's like Heroes (avant la lettre, apparently) gone Pokémon! I'd really like to see more of this!

So, either it's coincidental that 4 people gather and all have certain special abilities, or there's something more going on.
And like how the A&O get those powers? Did they emerge suddenly? Has it something to do with the events of Pokémon Heroes?
And how come the "Bug"-type man knew Brick Break? Do their powers not only come from a Pokémon type, but from an actual Pokémon, like Heracross?
How could some other Pokémon types be handled by man, like Steel, for instance? Are these special people "benders", like in Avatar?
Hmm, already a good pack of questions (not that I expect any answers soon)! A good mystery indeed.

Glad you liked it! And yes, I did come up with the concept/backstory before Heroes came out, and without giving away too much, as a Heroes fan as well, I was surprised to find out that Heroes and this story have a similar plot device, too. I will admit that Annie wasn't originally supposed to have mind reading, but I had to throw that in after watching Matt Parkman on Heroes.

As for how the powers work, I'm definitely going to be clearing that up as I continue because I know the first chapter leaves a lot of unanswered questions. I'm a bit ADD when it comes to reading and writing so I like action first and explanations later(hopefully explaining with an action).

As for Steel types, I actually have already thought of some powers for them, but I might not even have a pure Steel type character at all. I'm an old school fan of the original 151 and the 8 gym leaders/original Elite Four, so most of my choices for characters and powers come from them.

To anyone else reading, I would love to hear your feedback as well.

[TheHornyBug]

So, I finished Chapter 2. Once again, I would love feedback and comments!

Chapter 2

Sweat dripped down Joy's cheeks as she focused her energy into her hands. A white flame flared to life around her hands and grew stronger.

“Hang in there,” she whispered to Ace, but he didn't respond. His body lay still and unmoving. Joy pressed her hands into the lower part of Ace's torso, where the Dark spear entered his body. She winced at the wet feeling of his blood but kept her flaming hands pressed over his wound.

“Joy! We came as soon as possible. What happened?” Joy turned her attention away from Ace briefly to see a blue-haired police woman in a police uniform running towards her.

“Officer Jenny, I was getting some medicinal herbs around Route 6 when Team Rocket attacked me. He took this spear to save me. Hurry, bring a stretcher!” Joy said, turning back to Ace. Her hands continued to burn brightly.

“We need a stretcher, now!” Jenny yelled back to one of the medical vehicles. Two individuals dressed in white ran to them with a stretcher.

“Just give me a few more seconds,” Joy said, as the area surrounding Ace's wound also began to glow a bright white.

“What are you doing to him?” Jenny asked.

Joy didn't answer. For several seconds, she kept her eyes closed while the white fire in her hands flared stronger, and Ace's torso emitted an even brighter, white light. A sudden white flash of energy from Joy's hands startled Jenny and the two men with her, causing them to briefly turn away from the intense light. When they looked back, the fire from Joy's hands was gone, but Ace's torso maintained a dull glow. Joy opened her eyes. She sighed and wiped away the sweat from her brow.

“Okay, I've managed to stop his bleeding for now,” Joy finally answered Jenny. “We need to move him, now.”

The two men gently lifted his body onto the stretcher and took him to the ambulance.

“You made a tourniquet with your energy?” Jenny asked, as she and Joy also climbed into the back of the ambulance, sitting near Ace's unconscious body. “You Gifted never cease to amaze me.”

“It won't last long,” Joy told her. “Take us to the Saffron City hospital,” Joy ordered the two men as they climbed into the driver seat.

“Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we can't do that,” the driver responded. “The hospital's already past maximum capacity after the Lavender Town bombings two days ago. There's no way he can be treated there.”

“I know about the hospital,” Joy said. “I was getting those herbs because the hospital's in short supply right now.”

“Then, you know it's impossible for them to treat him right now,” the driver replied.

“Then take us to Saffron City Gym, I can operate on him there. We need to remove that spear,” Joy said.

“Ma'am, excuse me for saying this,” the driver replied hesitantly, “but Mistress Sabrina won't-”

“Mistress Sabrina,” Joy cut him off, “is currently absent from the Gym and won't be back for at least another half hour. That makes me the ranking League member of Saffron City Gym. Take us there, now.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the driver replied, and the vehicle began to move.

“Joy,” Jenny began, placing a hand gently on Joy's shoulders, “I'm not going to question your judgment, but who is he? You know an unauthorized person isn't allowed inside a Gym.”

“He... to be honest I don't know,” Joy admitted, looking at his unconscious form. “But I'm not just going to let him die.”

“You know nothing about him at all?”

“Well, I do know he's a Gifted like me,” Joy answered. “I heard one of the Team Rocket agents say he was a Bug type. I saw him use Fighting type moves, but he could stand his ground against Psychic attacks so I think his patron pokémon must be a Pinsir.”

“So you're not just bringing an unauthorized person into a League Gym – you're bringing an unauthorized Gifted,” Jenny sighed. “Mistress Sabrina isn't going to like this.”

*****

Annie and Oakley landed expertly in a small clearing in the forest.

Annie looked behind her and saw only the quiet woods. “Oakley, we've been running for over a half hour now. Let's stop. No one followed us.”

“I know,” Oakley replied, also looking over her shoulder. “I wasn't worried about anyone from the League... I was thinking about what to say to Giovanni.”

Annie shifted her feet uncomfortably. “Oakley, do we really have to call Giovanni now. He won't like it if we tell him we didn't capture Ace.”

“We have to let him know eventually so we should just do it now. I'm gonna set up the call,” Oakley pulled out a small hand-held device and typed into it. “Besides, we haven't botched a mission in years since that time with those brats in Altomare, so maybe he won't be mad at all. And you know,” Oakley scowled at Annie, “this is all your fault, letting that woman live to trigger a League emergency signal”

Annie placed her hands on her hips. “How was I supposed to know she worked for the League? Besides, you're the one that almost killed Ace! Giovanni said he wanted him alive.”

Oakley frowned as she continued typing. “You told me yourself that he twisted his body to avoid a lethal blow. It was our only way to escape before the police arrived. If Sabrina came with the police, I don't care if I'm a Dark type, I am not going to fight that woman.”

“Giovanni didn't say Ace would be that strong when he briefed us,” Annie pointed out.

“Yeah, the report was completely inaccurate about his abilities,” Oakley said. “His predictive ability was incredible – almost psychic.”

Annie's eyes looked upward. “Hmm, I don't think he has a secondary Psychic type. A Psychic type should be able to use telekinesis or telepathy. He tried to fight us using strictly hand-to-hand combat. ”

Oakley continued to fiddle with her device as she spoke. “Yeah, and I've never heard of a Bug/Psychic pokémon. Who would his patron pokémon be?”

Oakley set the device on the ground in front of them. “Okay, the call is going through.”

Annie hugged herself tightly. “Can you talk to him alone?”

“No!” Oakley scolded.

The device beeped twice and a column of bright, white light came from its center. The light formed into a humanoid shape, taller than both Annie and Oakley. Within seconds, its features became clear.

Annie felt a lump form in her throat when she looked into the beady, snake-like eyes of Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. He held his broad shoulders in a posture just as stiff as the orange business suit he wore and the brown, slicked back hair on his head.

“Report,” he said. His voice was soft but menacing at the same time.

Both Rocket agents remained silent for a couple seconds, prompting Annie to nudge Oakley with her elbow.

“Master Giovanni,” Oakley said, sneaking a glare at Annie, “unfortunately we have not captured Ace.”

Giovanni's snake-like eyes grew narrow.

“Explain,” he said. Somehow, it sounded more like a threat than a command.

“We engaged Ace just outside of Saffron. He came from Route 6 just as our intelligence reported, but a Pokémon League member was nearby during the fight. She activated an emergency signal. Our mission was supposed to be a stealth mission so we left as soon as possible.”

“It still is not 'stealth' if the League was alerted to your presence,” Giovanni replied. “It seems to me this mission was a failure in every way.” Annie felt her heartbeat quicken.

“Well... sir that's not all,” Oakley hesitated, “... in the process of our escape, I kind of impaled him with my spear, but we think he's okay.”

“You did what!” Giovanni roared, causing both Annie and Oakley to step away from the man's image. “No lethal force! I was perfectly clear on that!”

Oakley spoke hesitantly. “M-my apologies, sir, but it was the only way we could escape before the emergency unit arrived. Ace was stronger than we expected, and we weren't prepared to fight him. Our intelligence highly underestimated his abilities.”

The right side of Giovanni's mouth slowly upturned in a grin. Annie wondered why a gesture that was usually friendly made her shudder. “Is that so...” Giovanni said. His beady eyes focused on Annie. “You, don't you have anything to add?”

“N-no, sir,” Annie replied quickly, staring at her feet.

“These events are unfortunate,” Giovanni said. He crossed his arms across his broad chest. “If League emergency units knew Team Rocket was involved, no doubt they reported this incident to Lance already.” Giovanni scowled. “That draconian idiot will use any Rocket attack as an excuse to force another outrageous security policy on the Kanto region. I still can't believe how this region looks up to that fool as a leader.”

“Me too, sir,” Oakley agreed, nodding eagerly.

“Then again if Ace is involved, Lance will keep his mouth shut,” Giovanni said with a small smile. “He'll try to cover this up.”

Annie and Oakley exchanged puzzled looks.

“You two will proceed with your next operation tomorrow night,” Giovanni continued. “Silph Co will be on guard, but I need those items. Don't disappoint me again.”

His image faded, and the low hum of the device died away. Annie breathed a long sigh and collapsed on her rear end.

“He still wants us to go through with the next operation? How can we pull a robbery on Silph Co after this?” Annie asked Oakley.

Oakley shook her head. “I know. Saffron City's security will be on high alert for a few days. Intelligence reports that even Lorelei of the Elite Four is on her way to Saffron tonight, as if dealing with Sabrina alone wasn't enough.”

Annie covered her face with her hands. “Now Ace is there, too, and he's probably been healed by now.”

Oakley grimaced. “Yeah, trying to steal from Silph Co now is just suicide.”

“Suicide,” Annie whispered. She looked at her partner seriously. “Oakley, would Giovanni even care if we died?”

Oakley scoffed. “Of course he would. We're two of his top agents.”

For some reason, Annie didn't believe her.

*****

Joy wiped away the sweat on her forehead and removed the gloves from her hands. She read the monitor sitting next to Ace's unconscious body, his upper body now naked except for the bandages wrapped around his torso. His vital signs were strong. The operation was a success.

Just then, the doors of Saffron Gym's infirmary swung open, and Sabrina, Saffron City's Gym Leader stepped inside, looking first at Ace and then at her.

Sabrina stared at Joy with dark green eyes, the same color as her long, flowing hair that clashed so vibrantly with the crimson red suit she always wore.

“Mistress Sabrina,” Joy said, jumping to her feet, “please let me explain.”

“I read the report,” Sabrina said. She raised two of her fingers and the tips emitted a bright, pink light. She slowly approached Ace.

Joy stood in front of Ace's body, blocking Sabrina. “What are you doing?”

“A Mind Probe. I plan to read his thoughts and determine if he is a threat. He had to come to Saffron for a reason,” Sabrina stated.

“You can't use a Psychic technique like that on him while he's in this condition,” Joy said, looking nervously at Sabrina's fingers.

“You do not tell me what I can and can not do,” Sabrina said. “I only plan to skim the surface of his psyche. It will be noninvasive and harmless. I suggest you leave now, or else I will order his removal from this Gym immediately.”

Joy opened her mouth to reply but stopped herself. She stepped to the side and walked for the exit, looking back as Sabrina touched her glowing fingers to Ace's forehead.

*****
Joy read the clock on the wall.

“That's twenty minutes, now” Joy said to herself. She glanced again at the door of Saffron Gym's infirmary. It remained closed. She adjusted her glasses and continued typing on a laptop placed on her knees. After several keystrokes, she again, looked towards the door. Still closed.

She set her laptop on the seat next to her and stood up, heading for the door. Just as she reached for the knob, the doors flew open, and Joy found herself eye to eye with Sabrina.

“M-Mistress Sabrina, I... was just going to check on Ace,” Joy spoke quickly. “You were in there for so long.”

“I told you it was a limited and harmless Mind Probe, and it needed to be done,” Sabrina stated, “You brought him into this Gym without determining exactly who he is, or where he came from. That's a serious violation of protocol.”

Joy furrowed her brow. “I used my authority to make an exception. I couldn't take him to the hospital, and this Gym is the only other place in the city with the medical tools needed to properly remove that spear. If I didn't take him here, he would've died.”

Sabrina's face remained unchanged. “As an unidentified Gifted he poses an extremely dangerous threat to this Gym. I am astounded that you let him in so easily,” Sabrina reprimanded. The two stared at each other, Joy's lips upturned in a pout, but Sabrina's expression remained blank.

“However,” Sabrina continued, “after I scanned his thoughts I've determined that he holds no malicious intent and is not a threat. I won't overrule your decision to bring him here.”

Joy allowed herself to relax. “Thank you,” Joy glanced at her laptop then back to Sabrina. “May I ask what his intentions were?”

“From what I can tell, he came here to find Mistress Lorelei of the Elite Four,” Sabrina replied.

“He came to see Lorelei?... That's what I thought,” Joy again looked back to her laptop. Sabrina followed her gaze.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked.

“I've been checking the League records while you were in there,” Joy said. “When I searched for any recent documentation of Ace, I found no results.”

“That's odd,” Sabrina mused. “For the past four years, Lance has ordered a strict monitoring of all Gifted in this region. There should be something.”

“Well, I searched back further and could only find things about his past. His parents died when he was young. Lorelei took him in at a young age and raised him as her son. That is, until four years ago when he went missing.”

Sabrina raised an eyebrow. “Missing?”

Joy grabbed the laptop from her seat and showed the monitor to Sabrina.

“Ace completely disappeared from the records of Kanto and all other nearby regions four years ago,” Joy continued. “It's like he stopped existing.”

Sabrina's eyes narrowed as she pointed at a particular line on the screen. “The date that he disappeared...” Sabrina looked Joy in the eyes. “Was he in Indigo Plateau on that day when it happened?”

Joy nodded. “He was there, Mistress. Ace is a survivor of the Indigo Plateau bombing, but he's been missing ever since - until today.”

Sabrina looked back at the door of the infirmary. “He went missing when Team Rocket attacked Indigo Plateau... that could explain what I saw in his mind,” the Gym Leader said. “The Mind Probe was very superficial, but even so, I could see an anomaly in his psyche.”

Joy looked worried. “What did you see?” she asked.

“His mind has a large mental block that keeps him from remembering at least one year of his life's memories,” Sabrina said. “Such a case of amnesia can be forced on a person's psyche by a Psychic technique, but it's usually a self-defense reaction triggered by the brain after a traumatic event.”

“Something's not right here,” Joy said. “I've treated several survivors of Team Rocket's terrorist attacks, and I've never heard of a case like this. Unless... ” Joy's eyes widened. “You don't think he was captured by Team Rocket that day?”

“We can't say for sure,” Sabrina said. “But if he was, there's no telling what they did to him.”

Joy clenched her fists at her side, her nails digging into skin. “Where's Lorelei? I thought she was arriving here in Saffron tonight after speaking at the mourning event in Lavender Town.”

“She should be arriving shortly,” Sabrina said.

Joy placed a hand on her chin. “This is odd. Ace and Lorelei arriving in Saffron City on the same night. You said Ace was looking for her, but how did he know she was coming here? They should've been out of contact for years now.”

Sabrina began to walk away and turned her head back to Joy as she spoke. “That's not my concern. I must also file my report of this incident to headquarters.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Joy called back to her, bowing slightly. She folded her laptop and entered the infirmary to see Ace.

When Joy entered the infirmary, she first noticed the abnormal amount of sweat running down his cheeks. She ran to his side and wiped a clean cloth across Ace's face, soaking up the beads of sweat.

“No,” Ace spoke in a choked whisper. His face cringed and his head thrashed to one side. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing grew labored.

“Ace? Ace!?” Joy's voice grew worried. Was this a side effect of the Mind Probe? A nightmare?

“Ace what's going on,” Joy asked, as she tried to hold his body down.

His lips parted in a painful croak. “No more.”

*****
Darkness. He couldn't see. Something was covering his eyes. Ace felt his body completely submerged in some type of liquid, and when he tried to move his arms or legs, he felt shackles painfully dig into his wrists and ankles, keeping him in place.

“No more,” Ace tried to speak, but his words came out as gurgling noises underwater. He felt a sudden pain his chest, and he screamed, an intense stream of bubbles rushing from his mouth. It was a searing pain, like someone had placed a hot iron on his chest and held it in place. Ace heard a hollow, distant voice speak.

“Fire test complete. It was super-effective. I'm fairly certain he's a Bug type, but just to make sure let's try Flying energy. Ready the laser, please.”

“No, don't,” Ace tried to speak again, but only a low moan and a bubble escaped his lips.

“The laser is ready? Okay, fire.”

*****
“Don't do this to me! Let me go!” Ace screamed. To his surprise, he heard his desperate voice clearly, and there was no pain in his chest. Instead, his chest felt something very soft and warm pressed against it. It felt good. He heard a voice speaking to him. Not hollow and distant like before. It was kind and soothing.

“Shhh, it's okay. You're safe.” A female. He felt a hand gently rub circles around his back, while another patted his upper back lightly.

“No one's going to hurt you.” She said again. Ace realized both of his arms were hugged tightly around a warm, soft body. It felt so good he didn't want to let go. The feeling was so familiar. He felt this way whenever he hugged-

“Lorelei,” Ace whispered, his voice a breath of relief.

“Lorelei?” the voice asked. He felt her body pull away and all of a sudden he felt cold.

Ace opened his eyes. His blurred vision first saw a pair of glasses and blue eyes. He could make out the fuzzy outline of pink hair.

Pink? Ace blinked twice. The woman's face became clear. She was pretty but not Lorelei.

“Ace, are you okay?” she said to him. He'd seen this girl before, but from where?

“Yeah, just a nightmare” he replied. “It's nothing out of the ordinary. I get these dreams about-” Team Rocket! He tried to save him from Team Rocket when he-

Ace looked to his left and then to his right. “Where am I?” he asked her.

“You're in Saffron Gym's infirmary,” the woman replied, smiling gently. She had such a nice smile and a pretty face. She must've been about his age. He looked to her ID badge. Joy.

“You took a spear formed of Dark energy in the chest and saved my life. I brought you back here to operate on you. You're fine now,” Joy told him.

“You did the operation?” Ace asked, glancing down at his chest. He realized his upper body was bare, except for the thick layer of bandages wrapped around his torso. “Thank you. It looks like we're even.”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Joy said, her hands still lightly touching his arms. He liked how it felt. When he looked at her face, he noticed a light blush in her cheeks.

“So, have you been waiting here at my side this whole time?” he asked. Joy pulled her hands back to her sides subconsciously. He wanted her to put them back.

“Well... yeah I have,” Joy said as her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. She placed her thumb and index finger over her lips. “I mean, you're my patient so, you know, it's just my duty. ”

Ace felt a smile spread across his lips. “You're lying.”

“No, I'm a Gifted,” she explained quickly, taking her hand away from her mouth. “Lance appointed me as a healer a couple years ago so it's my duty to make sure a patient of mine makes a full recovery.”

“No, not that,” Ace replied. “When you said that 'it's just your duty', you covered your mouth when you spoke. It's a subconscious sign that you're hiding something.”

Ace focused energy into his eyes. Like a curtain slowly being drawn to the side, his field of vision expanded and he could see directly to the left and right of his head. His vision continued to widen until it completely reached around to the back of his head – a visual field of 360 degrees. He concentrated more energy into his eyes, and gradually he saw a faint golden glow surrounding Joy's body.

“You're right,” Ace said to her. “You are a Gifted. A Bug type like me.”

Joy's eyes widened slightly. “How did you know I was a Bug type?”

Ace shrugged his shoulders. “There's a golden aura around you. Only a Bug type shines that color.”

“You can see something like that?” Joy asked. Ace shrugged again.

“Wait, let me get my laptop,” Joy said, looking around the room to try to find it. Without turning his head, Ace saw it directly behind him on the floor, but he decided not to tell her.

“Laptop?” Ace asked her as he smiled, enjoying the confused expressions on her face.

“Well, before Lance drafted me into the League as a healer, I worked for Silph Co,” she replied, swiveling her head left and right and looking around in all the wrong places. “I still work for them now actually as the head of research for Gifted and their abilities. This field of study is still so new since Gifted only started appearing about four years ago. I try to make a record of every Gifted I meet.”

“Wow, that's amazing,” Ace said, breaking into a huge grin.

“What is?” Joy asked, stopping her search to look at him directly.

“You've got to be the biggest nerd I've ever met!” Ace maintained his wide smile. He formed his hands into circles and placed them over his eyes. “Four eyes!”

“Hey!” Joy cried. Ace noticed the aura around her right arm glow brighter, and it began to flow towards him, as if reaching for him. She was about to hit him.

“You jerk,” she said with a smile and hit him playfully with her right hand.

“Attacking a patient? Worst doctor ever!” Ace teased. She stuck her tongue out at him. Again, the aura around her right arm seemed to reach for him, and then, with her right hand, she tried to hit him again. Ace easily caught her incoming wrist with one hand.

“Hey, let go!” Joy giggled. She tried to slap his arm with her other hand, but seeing the attack, he used his free hand to catch her other wrist.

“You're in trouble now,” Ace warned as he slowly began to push her forward.

“Hey!” Joy cried out. He felt her try to push back, but he just pushed harder. He noticed Joy plant her feet on the ground, preparing to push with the added strength of her legs.

Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced across Ace's side, causing him to clutch his wound with both arms. Just then, Joy pushed forward as hard as she could, but she gasped in surprise and tumbled forward when she met no resistance. Ace felt their bodies collide, and he shut his eyes and grunted as the two fell back onto his bed.

When Ace opened his eyes, the first thing he saw were Joy's blue eyes inches away from his face. Her face was so close he could feel her breath, lightly blowing against his lips. He felt her chest pressing against his bare skin, and her soft fingertips resting on his shoulders. His body felt warm again – the same feeling he had before when she held him. His eyes traveled downwards to her lips which seemed to quiver slightly, like she didn't know what to say.

Her lips. A tingle ran down the back of his neck when he looked at them, and slowly he felt himself raise his lips towards hers as if drawn by an unknown force. He noticed her pink lips begin to pucker slightly, and her blue eyes started to close.

Then, the infirmary doors swung open, and both Ace and Joy turned their heads to see a red-haired woman wearing glasses burst into the room.

“Ace, thank goodness you're alr-” the woman stopped herself and placed her hands on her voluptuous hips.

“Lorelei!?” Ace and Joy spoke in unison.

*****


Hehe, there goes a romantic moment. Um, and I hate to sound like a noob, but is there a way for me to edit the title of this thread whenever I add a new chapter.