Clemont does not, in fact, have any kind of numbing agent in his medical supplies. Even that’s a strong phrase since it’s basically the boxed first aid kit that anyone can buy at the store.

 

However, I had a plan B for this. I used the chip in my spine to filter out any noise from nerves signaling pain. Unfortunately, that also mutes most of my sense of touch since those two signals are linked, but I’ve gotten fairly good at eyeballing things lately.

 

Gwen also assisted. She isn’t at the skill level where she can simply filter my pain like I was trying to do, but she could calm my thoughts as I injected a mock arm into half of my forearm and wrist.

 

Now, after all that really unnecessary drama, I did find some other things of note. Clemont keeps several bags of silicon powder in his storage rooms. Why? I have no clue, and, although I could investigate it, I really don’t care.

 

Prism Tower is also directly fed by the Lumiose Power Plant which I’m currently abusing right now.

 

Going off of classic training manuals for both humans and pokémon I found online, they recommend having something akin to sandbags to train against. I could have used the silicon as sandbags, but that stuff is really fine and a breathing hazard. So, I turned it into a giant pillar of crystal in the middle of the gym floor that my pokémon are repeatedly attacking.

 

See, silicon, or quartz, gives the hyper capacity crystals extreme resistance to most types of energy. This makes it perfect for having the pokémon attack it to exhaustion with the task of breaking off a chunk.

 

As they do that, Courtney and I stand in the spectator area, not really paying attention to my pokémon. Courtney is reading a book or something on her phone, and I’m on my laptop, listening to an online college lecture while working on some simulation software for circuits involving my crystals. There aren’t many license-free circuit modelling software made to handle the volts and amps I work with now.

 

As I listen to the biology professor speak, I get a small idea. I thought that one of the files I had received was encrypted beyond belief; the thought that my laptop wasn’t capable of breaking higher levels of encryption isn’t too wild. However, as I look at the letter sequences, it does start to look a little something like a genetic sequence.

 

Pulling up the Pokémon Lab’s genetic database, I copy and paste the entire file into the sequence matcher and have it pull up all matching results. I worry for what I find because, no matter what, it won’t be good news.

 

…Well, okay. I wasn’t expecting 98% of the matches to be for Houndour. I guess this is just a sample of Houndour DNA. There is that remaining 2% that matches to Shedinja, and that’s confusing for several reasons.

 

Though, if I had to guess, and I have confidence in that, those Team Flare guys are doing some kind of genetic modification. Perhaps they’re looking for something in the genetic code? Running other matches show that they’re making extremely minimal changes to the DNA.

 

I’ve always been tempted to expand into the genetic field since mastery of that would lend itself useful for creating more inventions straight from my imagination. Imagine if I could genetically modify myself to produce eggs again, or regrow my arm, or give myself immortality.

 

Well, that last one is technically possible. It just has the side effect of making cells divide so much that it creates super cancer.

 

Given my inability to focus on one invention at a time, but my ability to generally get really good at any specific scientific field I get interested in, I could probably do some diabolical stuff with th—

 

*Bzzz* *Bzzz*

 

Rolling my eyes as I, once again, get distracted, I pull out an earbud as I look to see who in the world is calling me right now.

 

Wha? Color me confused as I stare at Clemont’s contact info flashing on my screen as he attempts to call me. He and I made our differences clear long ago and amplified them when his invention blew off my hand. He has the tendency to come up with quick ideas on inventions that work for about 10 seconds, then promptly blow up.

 

I take a longer, slower approach to my inventions, but I have higher rates of success which is all that really matters in a competitive environment with inventors.

 

But anyway, why is he calling me?

 

…Might as well entertain this. “Hello,” I say into the phone, fully expecting that I’ve been buttdialed. It wouldn’t be the first time.

 

“Hey, Nicole…” A voice different than the expected one comes through.

 

“Bonnie? Why are you calling me?” I pause for a second. “And why not through your phone?”

 

“It’s a long story. Do you remember where Clemont built his Clemontic Shower?”

 

A frown immediately plasters itself on my face despite my conscious thoughts to prevent that. The Clemontic Shower was an invention that essentially acts as a station where electric-typed pokémon could recharge through the city. It’s what made Clemont a famous inventor as it was one of…ten-ish inventions that worked.

 

And it was all because his dad could afford to send him to a fancy school.

 

“Yes…” I grind out.

 

“Great! I need a favor! Clemont needs someone to go to Prism Tower and divert some of the city’s power over to the academy. Team Rocket is causing a blackout, and we need the lights on!”

 

I was so close to hanging up when she said Clemont needed this, but my hatred for Team Rocket burns slightly brighter. “Okay, sure. Why didn’t you ask your dad though?” I ask, using my arms to quickly crawl to the emergency Kalos power control panel.

 

“I called him first. He wasn’t picking up. Do you need the code to get in? You might need to deal with Clembot, too…”

 

“No problem,” I casually say, using an arm to flip the breaker that forces the powerplant to drain it’s emergency batteries towards the designated location.

 

“Yay! It worked! Thanks, Nicole.” And with that, she hung up.

 

I stare at my phone in near silence, listening to the hum of the nearby transformers. “That girl owes me.”