" Needs 'Merry Mimes,'" Lucario said while looking at the mess.

"Definitely," Yellow agreed meanwhile Austin ignored the duo's commentary of this place resembling that awful cartoon those two like for some reason.

"Hello!"

Everyone looked down sharply at the new voice—a Clefairy was standing in front of them.

"Uh, did that one just talk?" Yellow asked, pointing. "As in English? Is it like Meowth ?"

"Hey!" the Clefairy said. "It's me, Bill."

"Did Sir Bill get killed and is now being impersonated by a pokemon?" Lucario asked.

"No!" Bill said, hopping up and down. "Ash, it's seriously me—honest! It's just—I was experimenting with a new upgrade to the Poké-transfer system—that's the system that you use when you have more than six Pokémon and have to 'box' one—and I got trapped and spliced with one of my Pokémon!"

"Sounds like that Vincent Brycen movie," Austin observed.

"Wait—you got turned into a Pokémon?" Yellow asked.

"Slow, isn't she?" Bill asked Austin.

"You have no idea," Lucario said, nodding sagely.

Yellow, meanwhile, was too busy pointing excitedly at Bill and practically yelling at Austin.

"See? See? My life goal of being a Pokémon doesn't sound so silly now, does it?"

"You missed the part where this was an accident."

"Anyway," Bill interposed, waving frantically. "If one of you would be a pal—wait until I get back in the transfer device and then hit F7—that should reverse it and allow me to get back to normal."

"Why didn't you do it yourself?"

"There's not a delayed reaction to it—"

"Then how did it happen the first time?"

"Must you be difficult?"

"It's my favorite hobby."

"I've got it," Yellow said, standing by the keyboard. "It's this, right?"

"Yes, perfect," Bill said, hopping into an open metal closet. "I don't suppose you could close the do—"

Lucario slammed it in his face.

"That's mean," Yellow observed.

"I have an aversion to pink," Lucario explained. "How about we leave him in there and get out of here?"

"Hey, we've got to help," Austin argued. "Ready? 'Everybody says to push the button!'"

"'Push the button,'" Lucario repeated dully. Pikachu said something with more zeal.

Yellow pushed the button.

"It was F7, right?" Yellow asked.

"You'd better hope so at this point."

There was a ding, like that of an oven, and then a knocking from the metal closet.

"Hello?" Bill asked. "Letting me out would be nice!"

Austin went over and opened the door when it was clear that Lucario wasn't going to do so.

A man with unruly orange hair stepped out.

"Oh, thank goodness—no more pink," Bill declared, patting himself down. "I'm telling you, it was starting to get freaky—I spent all last night standing in the moonlight doing absolutely nothing—I didn't like it." He shivered.

" What happened to the Clefairy?" Lucario asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

Lucario pointed. "You got fused with a Clefairy, right? So when you got un-fused, shouldn't the Clefairy have been in this one?"

Bill looked concerned as he went over and opened the second metal closet. "Huh."

"Wow," Austin noised. "It is like the Brycen movie."

"I hadn't seen that movie," Bill muttered.

"So how do we check to make sure that what happen?"

"I don't know—I could run some tests—"

"Hey, try to use a move," Yellow suggested. "Then we can see if it works or not."

Bill considered this before wagging his fingers back and forth.

They stood still for a few moments.

"And that was?" Austin asked.

"It was supposed to be Metronome," Bill said, frowning slightly. "I guess I'm safe…."

"Or it turned into Splash," Yellow suggested.

"I suppose that's a possibility too."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Inside the laboratory, Bill seemed to have transformed into a child on a sugar rush as he went back and forth from machine to machine.

Austin meanwhile was beside Charmeleon as he got out of the MRI.

" That is loud," Austin commented with a smile as he brushed Charmeleon's scaly skin.

" Char, Charmeleon."

Charmeleon seemed to disagree with the MRI beginning loudly.

" Well, aren't you, my tough little dragon ?"

Austin said as he scratched Charmeleon's chin.

Charmeleon turned away as he didn't want to show his affectionate side in front of other pokemon.

" Ahem"

" What is it, Bill ?"

" I have some good news and bad news."

" Let's hear the good news first."

" Char."

" Charmeleon's DNA seems to have stabilized. No complications should arise in its health in the foreseeable future but I would recommend a new kind of diet to give Charmeleon enough nutrients for its new body."

" That's good to hear" Austin sighed in relief as he put his hand on his chest.

Charmeleon wasn't suffering from the same genetic instability that Red's Eevee was going through in the manga.

" As for the bad news, Charmeleon's DNA seems to have deadlocked."

" Huh."

" Char ?"

" Let me put it in simpler terms, Charmeleon can't evolve naturally."

" Eon !" Charmeleon glared at Bill with so much hatred that had caused the scientist to back up but Austin stopped Charmeleon but putting a hand on his head.

" Stop that, he is just trying to help."

" Char." Charmeleon looked down in shame as it heard its trainer's voice.

" You said that Charmeleon can't evolve naturally."

" Yes, Charmeleon's DNA is currently extremely similar to that of Pokemon with Catalytic Evolution like Eevee, Arcanine, etc."

" So Charmeleon needs a stone to evolve."

" Not quite," Bill answered," Charmeleon needs something to induce his evolution but I don't know what that thing is."

" So until we find the correct evolutionary stone or something like that, Charmeleon can't evolve."

" That is correct."

Charmeleon meanwhile looked down onto the floor in disbelief.

He can't evolve into a Charizard.

As if Austin had sensed Charmeleon's emotions, Austin grabbed Charmeleon's shoulders.

" Buddy, look at me."

" Char."

" As long as it takes, I promise you that we will keep looking for a way ok. Maybe by the time you evolve into a mighty Charizard, I would have gotten over my fear of heights and we can fly in the sky as much as we want. How does that sound ?"

Charmeleon smiled at his trainer's words before he jumped down.

" Char, Char." Charmeleon said as he pointed outside.

" Don't stay out too late."

" Char."

" Well, quite the bond you have there." Bill commented as he continued," I have also checked up on your pink Magikarp, it isn't going to lose its coloration due to lack of pinkan berries and its diet can be substituted."

" Thanks for everything, bill."

" It's no problem. Now mind telling me what is with your red eyes."