Pokémon: Virus Evolution

The Pokémon smuggling base had relatively low-level Pokémon, and security was sparse—only about twenty guards, each with an average of two to three Pokémon.

Could my "Venomous Plague" ability be activated remotely, or did I have to trigger it within a host's body?

If it only worked internally, I'd have to eliminate them one by one.

With that in mind, Lucius immediately infected two guards outside the office.

While they chatted idly, he triggered "Venomous Plague" within one of them.

"Ugh… ugh—"

"Hey, what's wrong?" A man wearing a baseball cap was just about to light a cigarette when he noticed his colleague's face turning purple, his body convulsing violently before collapsing. He was startled.

"Damn, you got poisoned?" The baseball cap man quickly grabbed an antidote from his bag and injected it into his companion. "Did yesterday's leftovers go bad?"

The man couldn't answer. Despite the antidote, his vitality was draining rapidly.

Host Vitality -40

Host Vitality -35

Host Vitality -30

…

Lucius watched the system notifications, gaining a deeper understanding of his ability.

He had infected both the man and the baseball cap guard before activating "Venomous Plague."

After triggering it, the infected host displayed poisoning symptoms, but the baseball cap man—despite also being infected—showed no reaction since Lucius wasn't consciously controlling him.

This confirmed that his active ability only worked on his current host, whereas passive infections required no additional action.

That was convenient. If his ability worked remotely, wouldn't that mean he could kill everyone he had ever infected—including the Chansey and Treecko from earlier?

It was better to handle things one at a time…

After the antidote was administered, the poisoning slowed, suggesting that antidotes could counteract his ability to some extent.

Lucius remained indifferent and activated "Venomous Plague" again.

Host Vitality -25

Host Vitality -30

Host Vitality -35

…

[Warning: Host Vitality has reached 0. Host has died.]

Although the antidote mitigated the poison, it had its limits. When the toxicity exceeded its neutralizing capacity, it became useless.

"Hey, hey…" The baseball cap guard nudged his now motionless colleague, realizing he was completely dead.

The corpse's face was frozen in an expression of sheer agony.

"That fast? Damn it." The baseball cap man immediately sprinted toward the captain's office, intending to report this to Mike.

Unbeknownst to him, as he rushed down the hallway, countless viral particles seeped into his body once again.

"Captain, just now—" The baseball cap man pushed open Mike's office door but froze in shock.

Mike was already lying on the floor, his face twisted in the same ghastly expression as the previous victim. Clearly, he was dead as well.

"Is this place haunted?" The baseball cap man shuddered. He had just spoken to Mike not long ago, and now, two men had died in an eerily similar manner. He had never encountered anything like this before.

Suddenly, he felt his breath shorten, his internal organs burning as though set aflame. His body convulsed involuntarily, and he staggered to the ground.

As he collapsed, his Poké Ball rolled from his belt.

With a flash of white light, a grayish-black furred Pokémon, nearly half a meter tall, emerged.

"Arf! Arf!" The Poochyena barked in distress as it watched its owner convulsing. It nudged his chest with its nose, but nothing changed.

Three down.

In less than ten seconds, the baseball cap guard's vitality dropped to zero, and his breathing ceased.

Lucius noticed his own vitality had now reached 162 points, an increase of 30 points from before.

So, every time he actively killed a person, his life force limit increased by 10 points?

Infection granted evolution progress, but the host didn't need to die. Killing, however, boosted his maximum life force.

If he slaughtered 100 people, wouldn't he have over a thousand life points even without evolving?

Heh. What a sadistic system.

Are you trying to push me into mass murder, System?

Lucius pondered for a moment. Whether or not he would continue killing was another matter, but for now, he needed to complete his mission. Infecting 20 people wouldn't take long.

At the moment, no other humans were nearby—just the mourning Poochyena nudging its dead trainer.

Guess you're next.

Lucius commanded his viral swarm forward, aiming for the Poochyena.

"Whimper…" The Poochyena continued to whine over its owner's death.

From the memories gained through infection, Lucius knew the baseball cap guard, despite being a smuggler, had treated his Pokémon well. It was no surprise that the Poochyena was grieving.

Just as Lucius approached, the Poochyena suddenly lifted its head and sniffed the air in his direction.

The action startled Lucius. Did it sense me?

However, the Poochyena merely sniffed a few times without taking further action. In fact, its nose twitching actually helped Lucius enter its body even faster.

Scared me for a second…

Lucius wasted no time and initiated the infection.

The Poochyena whimpered a bit more before abruptly turning and sprinting out of the room.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!" It dashed through several corridors before barging into what appeared to be a break room, barking furiously inside.

"What's with the noise?" A groggy man stepped out, glaring at the Poochyena. "Damn mutt, it's the middle of the night! Why are you making a racket?"

The Poochyena ignored the scolding and grabbed the man's pant leg, tugging him toward the hallway.

"What's gotten into you?" The man frowned. "Where's Matsu? Did something happen?"

The Poochyena nodded and continued pulling at his pants.

"Fine, fine." The man tossed a Poké Ball.

A burst of white light revealed a Golbat flapping its wings in midair.

"Let's go." The man followed the Poochyena towards the office.

Huh, smart dog. Knows to get backup. Lucius chuckled inside the Poochyena's body.

The more people you bring, the more I'll eliminate.

The man soon arrived at the office, where he saw the baseball cap guard Matsu sprawled in the doorway and Mike lifeless behind the desk. His face instantly darkened.

"Mike?" The man checked for signs of life, then scowled and picked up a walkie-talkie. "All units, initiate Level One Alert. I repeat, Level One Alert. Medical team, report to Captain Mike's office immediately."

"Team A, copy."

"Team B, copy."

…

"Medical team, copy."

After receiving acknowledgments, the man dialed a secure line. "This is Cerulean City Base No. 2. Mike is dead..."

So, this guy's the one in charge here.

Watching the man's swift, decisive actions, Lucius analyzed his potential threat.

Thanks to the Poochyena's keen senses, Lucius also noticed a sudden surge in released Pokémon throughout the base—including two or three particularly strong ones.

Looks like activating Level One Alert forced them to release all their Pokémon.

From the man's phone call, Lucius also gathered that tomorrow, the Vermillion City Syndicate branch would be sending a team to assist with the investigation.

After hanging up, the man glanced at the Poochyena and spoke. "Gray, your trainer Matsu is dead. From now on, you'll follow me."

The Poochyena whimpered but hesitated to move closer, as if reluctant.

"What? You'd rather be turned into food or an experiment?" The man's voice grew cold.

----- 

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