"80 billion dollars?" Prime Minister Aizawa was stunned for a moment. He'd been under the impression that it was 80 billion in Japan's own currency, a sum roughly equal to what the government spent annually on the country's upkeep. But 80 billion dollars was far more than that.
Ethan didn't bat an eye. "Mr. Prime Minister, considering Japan's annual GDP, 80 billion dollars shouldn't be excessive. If you truly care about the Japanese people and the world at large, I'm sure you'll be willing to invest in a permanent solution."
Ethan wasn't worried that Aizawa would refuse. After all, a problem that could be solved with money wasn't truly insoluble. And politically, Aizawa's plummeting approval ratings and the ongoing protests over nuclear waste left him little choice but to pay whatever it took. The price might be staggering for a private company, but for the government of a developed nation, it was a fraction of its resources.
After a pause, Aizawa replied, "If your company can truly solve the crisis, Japan will pay. Let's sign the contract."
"You're straightforward, Mr. Prime Minister." Ethan clapped his hands lightly, surprised that the negotiations had gone so smoothly. With a few quick moves, both sides drafted and signed a preliminary agreement. They also agreed to meet the next day to finalize the arrangements, with Aizawa and other senior officials present. Of course, Ethan felt there was no room for error.
...
That night, Ethan, Annie, and a few others gathered in their hotel lounge. Annie scrolled through social media on her phone, her eyes wide.
"The Internet is exploding," she said. "Journalists are flocking here overnight!"
Ethan wasn't surprised. "Reporters with an eye for big news must have already arrived." In fact, he'd noticed a few at the hotel, distinguished by their camera bags or frantic phone calls. At first, they had seemed too busy to notice him. Now, new waves kept arriving as the story heated up.
"I hope Suicune performs perfectly tomorrow," Annie muttered anxiously. "I haven't seen his real powers yet, but there's a lot of nuclear waste. If anything goes wrong, we'll be blamed heavily."
Negotiating with a sovereign government unnerved her. She couldn't imagine the consequences if it failed. But Ethan dismissed her worries.
"Don't overthink it," he said. He stood and touched his stomach lightly. "I'm going to bed. But first, can I have a box of pears delivered to my room? Suicune and Pikachu love fresh fruit."
"A box?" Annie echoed. "That's a bit much..."
He just smiled. "I've got more Pokémon in there than you think."
---
Around eight o'clock, Annie arrived at Ethan's door and ordered a hotel waiter to bring in a box of pears. She was about to knock when she heard quite a commotion inside—voices, squeaks, rustling, as if several creatures were scurrying about. She paused, confused. Didn't Ethan only have Pikachu and Suicune with him?
She checked the room number again, just to be sure, and finally knocked. "Coming," came Ethan's muffled voice. Moments later, the door opened.
The hotel staff set the box down and left. Annie stepped inside and gaped. In addition to Pikachu, Wartortle, and Igneel, she saw Bulbasaur, Igglybuff, Ditto, and numerous other Pokémon, some of which she didn't even recognize!
"Mr. Grave, when did you bring so many Pokémon?" she exclaimed. "I had no idea."
A small grin crossed Ethan's face as he closed the door. "Please wash and slice these pears. And to answer your question: I've had them all along—you just never noticed."
Annie blinked in disbelief. "That's impossible. They can't be invisible, can they?"
He laughed. "They're in Poké Balls most of the time. Now, let's feed them first, then I'll explain everything else." Together, they began rinsing the pears, chopping them up, and distributing the slices to the hungry Pokémon.
Within minutes, the entire box was nearly empty, gobbled up by a dozen of the creatures that roamed the suite. Some scampered around playfully, jumping on the bed or fighting over the last piece of fruit. Ethan sighed with satisfaction. Without storing them in Poké Balls overnight, he wouldn't get any sleep.
Annie stared at the scene. "Mr. Grave, who are all these Pokémon? I see Igglybuff, but I also see others I've never heard of."
"Some are newly bred in the lab," he explained. "They haven't even been registered with the Evaluation Agency yet, so no one outside the staff knows about them. They'll be on public display at the Victoria show." He paused to pry Pidgey and Hoothoot off his head, trying to keep them from tangling in his hair. "I can't just bring Suicune and Pikachu. That private jet we chartered would feel wasted if I only had two Pokémon."
Annie giggled. "I guess you want to make a big entrance. Suicune alone would draw attention, but you're going for the highest ranking possible, right?"
Ethan's eyes went to Suicune, who was curled up on the carpet. "I suppose Suicune could win the top prize."
Not only because Suicune looked majestic, he mused, but also because once it cleaned up Japan's nuclear waste, the show's judges would be in awe. "We'll see."
Annie looked back at the swirl of frolicking Pokémon. "So how exactly did they hide during the flight?"
Ethan pulled a round, red-and-white fruit out of a bag and handed it to her. "It's a Poké Ball, my latest project." Pressing the center button, he tossed it gently, and Pidgey disappeared in a flash of light. "It's grown from those special cones we talked about. Each fruit holds a small dimensional space."
Annie's eyes went wide. "Damn, that's amazing!" She turned the orb in her hands. "You discovered that the meteor water had space-warping power, so you spliced it into the tree's genes..."
Ethan nodded. "That's why any Pokémon can fit in there, so I can transport them discreetly." He sat down, satisfied with the day's accomplishments. "We leave early tomorrow for Japan, then the Victoria show. Let's get some rest."
Annie, stunned by the black-tech wonder of the Poké Balls, simply murmured, "Incredible..." Then she began to help gather the Pokémon that needed to be recalled for the night.
Once everyone was settled, Ethan lay back on his bed. Soon, they would stand before the entire world, including Japan, and prove once again that Pokémon Biotech could hold the future in its hands, one Poké Ball at a time.